grub2

[tmetro-blu-5a1Jt6qxUNc at public.gmane.org (Tom Metro)]

Dan Ritter wrote:
> Grub2 is a complete rewrite, and aims for broader support and more
> runtime flexibility.

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelTeam/Grub2Testing

   [grub legacy] has not been updated since the year 2006 and it is
   getting 'long in the tooth'. Grub does not support newer BIOS
   firmwares such as EFI and there is no intention that it ever will.

   There is a replacement for Grub, which has been in development for
   approximately 6 years now; it is called Grub2. Switching to Grub2
   would provide support for newer computer systems,
   internationalization, 'updates', 'bug fixes' and other improvements.


> If Grub works for you, there's no reason to switch. 

Right. Hey, some of us still have machines booting with LILO. :-)

More on whether you should consider grub2 here:
http://grub.enbug.org/Manual#head-9fb76b5227bff2d2d8c08e16ec4a5cdc3b87bb12

It looks like the grub2 developers still characterize it as beta, and 
not production.

It seems like grub2 will become a necessity as more hardware starts 
getting shipped with a BIOS that requires it.

If the above wiki is true that grub legacy has been unmaintained (though 
I'm sure the distros have been keeping it patched) for a while now, and 
grub2 has been in development for 6 years, I wonder is why it has taken 
this long for the transition to start. But I guess without a compelling 
reason to switch, people play it safe and stick with what works.


> Basically, they'd like to put in a guaranteed
> fallback system that you can always boot to, and boot any
> reasonably well-installed OS from. No more rescue disks...

I've seen this alluded to, but haven't seen any details on how it works. 
Know any more details about it?

I'm not all that familiar with the grub> prompt in legacy grub, but it 
looks like there is more you can do in grub2, such as listing 
directories and cat'ing files.

  -Tom

-- 
Tom Metro
Venture Logic, Newton, MA, USA
"Enterprise solutions through open source."
Professional Profile: http://tmetro.venturelogic.com/