Re: Using Debian to manage a multiple OS machine

Marc Haber <mh+usenetspam1118@zugschl.us> wrote:

not@telling.you.invalid (Computer Nerd Kev) wrote:

Marc Haber <mh+usenetspam1118@zugschl.us> wrote:

A big part of grub is building the configuration, which is done by
scripts that come from the respective distribution. And yes, there are
differences in those scripts.

>
The Debian one messed up a dual-boot set-up on me after an upgrade,

 
Which upgrade?

Too many years ago, can't remember.

Did you file a bug?

That probably would have kept me busy a week or more, trying to
improve software that, compared to Extlinux, is being willfully
overcomplicated anyway. No I certainly didn't.

Did you have a backup?

Yes, but actually I did away with the dual-boot in order to get
things fixed quickly. It was someone else's PC and I had limited
time, they decided they didn't really care about booting into the
old OS again anyway.

and there was no simple description of manual configuration in the
Grub docs.

 
Yes, that's a problem with grub: It has evolved to a full, low-level
operating system, and it's almost impossible to use it without relying
on the scripts to build a correct configuration.

That's amazing, such a huge step backwards, for what?

I've since replaced Grub2 with the Extlinux bootloader
everywhere (after determining that Grub "Legacy" doesn't work
booting new Linux distros anymore), which doesn't expect you to
rely on flaky scripts to make its equivalent of Grub Legacy's good
old menu.lst.

 
menu.lst was hard to write as well.

Not at all, here's booting Linux:

title [menu title]
kernel [kernel path & options]
makeactive
boot

Booting Windows on the first partition of the first disk:

title Windows 98SE
root (hd0,0)
chainloader +1
makeactive
boot

What's hard? Fighting buggy scripts, that's hard. Old Grub just did
what you asked it to, like Syslinux/Extlinux mercifully still do.

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