[arch-releng] grub install not listing partitions

[Heiko Baums]

Am Fri, 16 Dec 2011 20:48:54 +0530
schrieb Keshav P R <the.ridikulus.rat at gmail.com>:

> Well, it may work in your system but does not do so properly in many
> systems (newer and older both).

I haven't heard, yet, that grub-legacy doesn't work on some systems.

> I agree syslinux is not recommended
> for multiboot but grub-legacy might be (is?) a maintenance burden for
> the devs (both the package and in the installer).

I don't think so. And grub-legacy has some more advantages over
syslinux. It works with a lot more filesystems. Syslinux can only boot
from ext2/3/4 and btrfs, but e.g. not from reiserfs.

Don't get me wrong. From what I saw I like syslinux principally, and I
would prefer it on singleboot systems or on dualboot systems with one
Linux and one Windows installation. But as long as these flaws aren't
fixed (multiboot and supporting every filesystem) syslinux is just not a
replacement for grub.

I don't know grub2, but I only read bad things about it so far, like
unstable, complicated to configure etc.

> This decision has
> to be taken by the devs. If they choose to support it, then threads
> like this pop up now-and-then asking for a specific feature to be
> added/dropped/modified and they haave to fix the package/code
> themselves. If they don't support, its upto the user to find out how
> to do it.

Do you really think it's the best idea to pin this on the users? Not
every user - not even Arch users - are developers and can do this. And
as long as grub-legacy is needed for multiboot systems it just can't be
removed from [core] and the install CD, and just has to be supported.

Why can't you just let the user decide which bootloader he wants to
install like it is currently done by AIF?

And, btw., the last very long discussion ended in not having a default
bootloader but provide both grub-legacy and syslinux parallel in AIF.
That was a decission made by the devs.

> But the truth is grub-legacy is deprecated and not
> recommended, and the upstream simply refuses to fix any issue or even

No, the truth is that grub-legacy is deprecated, but not unrecommended.

I don't know the Beginner's Guide anymore, it's long ago that I read
it. But if there has to be changed anything about the bootloaders, both
bootloaders (grub-legacy and syslinux) should be described with all of
their advantages and disadvantages with an explanation about when it's
best using the one or the other. But mentioning syslinux as the
preferred one is simply not the right way.

Heiko