Booting Stage 2: Ubuntu Settles on GRUB 2
Now that the GRUB vs. LILO match has been largely decided, the successor to the established GRUB bootloader is waiting in the aisles. The Ubuntu project wants to put GRUB 2 into action with Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala).
As Ubuntu maven Colin Watson announced June 8 in the developer mailing list, the new Ubuntu bootloader is called GRUB 2. The fundamentally new GRUB variant will be in effect for all the newest Ubuntu version installations. The decision came out of the developer meeting for Karmic Koala.
The project wants to leave be already existing installations with GRUB. It's been their policy not to reinstall the bootloader automatically even when upgrading to a new version of GRUB Legacy. Otherwise an inexperienced user might want to reinstall using the new bootloader after a failed installation, a "risky operation," according to Watson. Ubuntu wants to avoid any bad surprises with the GRUB 2 introduction.
There are a few good reasons to upgrade the old, but stable, legacy GRUB. One is to fix design mistakes that couldn't be resolved for backward compatibility, such as the illogical partition addressing. Another is that GRUB 2 provides a few features missing in GRUB Legacy. Among the features are a graphical interface, scripting support, internationalization, elimination of Stage 1.5, cross-platform installation and the dynamic loading of additional modules at runtime.
Particularly adventuresome users can replace their "long-in-tooth" GRUB with the new bootloader from the Ubuntu wiki, which goes into quite a bit more detail. Watson suggests reporting any bugs, particularly those involving regressions from GRUB Legacy, to https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/grub2 .
Comments
comments powered by DisqusSubscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Latest Cinnamon Desktop Releases with a Bold New Look
Just in time for the holidays, the developer of the Cinnamon desktop has shipped a new release to help spice up your eggnog with new features and a new look.
-
Armbian 24.11 Released with Expanded Hardware Support
If you've been waiting for Armbian to support OrangePi 5 Max and Radxa ROCK 5B+, the wait is over.
-
SUSE Renames Several Products for Better Name Recognition
SUSE has been a very powerful player in the European market, but it knows it must branch out to gain serious traction. Will a name change do the trick?
-
ESET Discovers New Linux Malware
WolfsBane is an all-in-one malware that has hit the Linux operating system and includes a dropper, a launcher, and a backdoor.
-
New Linux Kernel Patch Allows Forcing a CPU Mitigation
Even when CPU mitigations can consume precious CPU cycles, it might not be a bad idea to allow users to enable them, even if your machine isn't vulnerable.
-
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.5 Released
Notify your friends, loved ones, and colleagues that the latest version of RHEL is available with plenty of enhancements.
-
Linux Sees Massive Performance Increase from a Single Line of Code
With one line of code, Intel was able to increase the performance of the Linux kernel by 4,000 percent.
-
Fedora KDE Approved as an Official Spin
If you prefer the Plasma desktop environment and the Fedora distribution, you're in luck because there's now an official spin that is listed on the same level as the Fedora Workstation edition.
-
New Steam Client Ups the Ante for Linux
The latest release from Steam has some pretty cool tricks up its sleeve.
-
Gnome OS Transitioning Toward a General-Purpose Distro
If you're looking for the perfectly vanilla take on the Gnome desktop, Gnome OS might be for you.
Credit where it is due
Credit where it is due
Very few packages are developed by Ubuntu/Canonical - upstart is the only one that comes to mind. There may be others, but I don't know about them. This situation is not unique to Ubuntu either - it is similar with all linux distributions.
However, a mention and a link to the development website would resolve any ambiguity on the issue.
GRUB 2 not Canonical code