Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

linuxcbon · Joined: 09 Aug 2007 Posts: 749

And what about choice and freedom and diversity ? You want dictatorship ? Apply it to yourselves, not to the others.

Iguleder · Posted: Sat 23 Mar 2013, 15:33 Post subject:

You can always replace the boot loader the installer installed for you, exactly the same way some replace the pre-installed JWM and ROX-Filer with KDE.

Also, this suggestion is not very weird. Pretty much all distributions force you to use a certain boot loader. For instance, the Ubuntu installer doesn't ask you which boot loader you'd like to use - this is true for pretty much all distros. Most just use GRUB Legacy or GRUB; no questions.

Furthermore, if you have only one mature and stable boot loader (I guess that's the direction where UEFI support is going these days), chances you're going to consider switching to another are very low.

Finally, let's be honest: most people don't know what a boot loader is, anyway, so they won't be dissatisfied and won't feel restricted if the developers of their operating system, as professionals, rather than inexperienced end-users, pick the best boot loader and "force" them to use it.

Three well-explained points for one boot loader per architecture, TAKE THAT! Laughing

Q5sys · Joined: 11 Dec 2008 Posts: 1046

Iguleder · Posted: Sat 23 Mar 2013, 16:54 Post subject:

Never used it myself.

I use extlinux everywhere, with ext4. It starts faster than GRUB under my machines - I don't need a boot menu, so it fits well.

extlinux is by far my favourite boot loader for x86 - I don't see any reason to use GRUB when there's extlinux combined with its VESA boot menu module. Lighter, easier to configure, smaller and easier to install on flash drives, memory cards, etc'.

Sky Aisling

Hello All, Puppy boot options?

Flash · Posted: Fri 02 Aug 2013, 21:23 Post subject:

Those look more like blind Egyptian llamas to me.

tlchost · Posted: Fri 02 Aug 2013, 21:40 Post subject:

Ted Dog · Joined: 13 Sep 2005 Posts: 1959 Location: Heart of Texas

Ted Dog · Joined: 13 Sep 2005 Posts: 1959 Location: Heart of Texas

Hello All, Puppy boot options? Laughing

Did not notice how topical a photo can be, missed this the first couple of scrolls.

Puppies all made from boots. Wink

tlchost · Posted: Sat 03 Aug 2013, 05:20 Post subject:

greengeek · Joined: 20 Jul 2010 Posts: 2003 Location: New Zealand

Thanks GCMartin for kicking off this topic - I am learning quite a bit by following the thread. There are clearly many holes in my understanding, but I do have one contribution to make and it is this:

Not all hardware is the same - even when "in theory" one machine is exactly the same as another. I have one Acer netbook that simply will not boot via syslinux 4.04 (3.73 is fine...)

In my opinion any attempt to "standardise" methods may well leave some machines out in the cold due to intentional or unintentional hardware/firmware/bios design characteristics. One of the things I love about puppy is the vast range of creative ways people get around an issue, or achieve their end result. It is that creative, fragmented and "non-official" mindset that is both the major strength, and occasional weakness in Puppy's armour.

With UEFI it may eventually be a different story - it may well be that there will eventually only be one boot method that is tolerated by the hardware. I hope not this will not be the case, but I sense significant pressure coming on manufacturers to restrict what the user can do. I personally like variety. Vive la difference!