GRUB update borks Debian testing

[Lennart Sorensen]

On Sat, Jan 09, 2010 at 03:22:50PM -0500, D. Hugh Redelmeier wrote:
> | From: Christopher Browne <cbbrowne-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w at public.gmane.org>
> 
> | There are times we need more than LILO / SysLinux, but it seems like a
> | rather bad thing for GRUB to progress towards being nearly a kernel of
> | its own :-(.
> 
> Grub was a big change from LILO.
> 
> LILO needed to be refreshed every time a new kernel was installed
> since LILO didn't understand file systems: it was given a list of
> blocks to boot.
> 
> GRUB does understand filesystems so just adding a stanza to
> /etc/boot/menu.cfg would let it boot a new kernel.
> 
> The LILO approach has the advantage that it could be file-system
> neutral / ignorant.  GRUB needs code to handle every filesystem (and
> variation thereof) that it is expected to boot from.  Failing that,
> the user is forced to have a separate /boot filesystem of a type that
> is understood by GRUB.
> 
> Summary: LILO win: simplicity, lack of duplication of code
> GRUB win: easier for user (no refresh on kernel installation)
> 
> GRUB2 now seems to throw away that advantage: since you are not
> supposed to edit the config file, you have to refresh GRUB2 every time
> a new kernel is installed.

No you update the config file, same as you always did.  You do not
reinstall grub itself.

> GRUB still has an advantage: when grub cannot boot a kernel, it still
> gives you a kind of shell that lets you play around a bit.  You can
> edit menu items (for example, to change the partition being booted)
> and try them.  You can also poke around a bit on filesystems.

It still has all the advantages it always did.  They just added some
layers of abstraction to the config file.  For most people it just
works now.

> I skimmed the tutorial John pointed out.  Nothing jumps out as a big
> win for GRUB2.
> 
> + modular building of the menu is at least theoretically a good thing.
>   This could have been done with the old GRUB, but GRUB2 provides the
>   tools and conventions.
> 
> - The shell scripting seems a bit abstruse.  And you still have to
>   understand the new version of the grub command set.
> 
> 0 the way of setting the default menu entry is just as bad as ever: a
>   cardinal number rather than an ordinal number or, much better, a label.
> 
> + the loadable modules must be good for something but that isn't
>   self-evident.
> 
> + GRUB2 understands ext4.  (I think Ubuntu put support for ext4 into
>   old GRUB but that may not be widely adopted.)

A google summer of code project did the work on it, and patches were
available.  They came in handy for me before, although now I use grub2
instead.

> All these comments are based on a slim thread: my understanding of the
> tutorial.  More enlightened insights would be useful.

-- 
Len Sorensen
--
The Toronto Linux Users Group.      Meetings: http://gtalug.org/
TLUG requests: Linux topics, No HTML, wrap text below 80 columns
How to UNSUBSCRIBE: http://gtalug.org/wiki/Mailing_lists