[Bug 918041] Re: Default GRUB menu entries are overly technical
UbuntuFlo
ubuntuflo at gmx.net
Thu Jan 19 19:44:42 UTC 2012
With this change hopefully coming to Precise, older and no longer used kernels should be deinstalled automatically. The GRUB menu looks like the following with users which are beginners and don't know how to remove the older kernels manually.
Ubuntu, with Linux 3.2.0-9-generic
Ubuntu, with Linux 3.2.0-9-generic (recovery mode)
Ubuntu, with Linux 3.2.0-8-generic
Ubuntu, with Linux 3.2.0-8-generic (recovery mode)
Ubuntu, with Linux 3.2.0-7-generic
Ubuntu, with Linux 3.2.0-7-generic (recovery mode)
Ubuntu, with Linux 3.2.0-6-generic
Ubuntu, with Linux 3.2.0-6-generic (recovery mode)
Ubuntu, with Linux 3.2.0-5-generic
Ubuntu, with Linux 3.2.0-5-generic (recovery mode)
Ubuntu, with Linux 3.2.0-4-generic
Ubuntu, with Linux 3.2.0-4-generic (recovery mode)
Every kernel older than 3.2.0-8 (in the above mentioned case) should be removed automatically. Only the "last known good" (0-8) and the newest (0-9) should be seen and be installed. I have seen (new) Ubuntu users, having dozens of kernels with hundreds of gigabyte installed.
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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/918041
Title:
Default GRUB menu entries are overly technical
Status in “grub2” package in Ubuntu:
Confirmed
Bug description:
The names of the entries added to a typical Ubuntu-Windows dual-boot
GRUB menu are meaningless, if not even uncomforting and confusing to
the average user. For instance, my Ubuntu 12.04 alpha install has the
following entries:
Ubuntu, with Linux 3.2.0-9-generic
Ubuntu, with Linux 3.2.0-9-generic (recovery mode)
Ubuntu, with Linux 3.2.0-8-generic
Ubuntu, with Linux 3.2.0-8-generic (recovery mode)
Memory test (memtest86+)
Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)
Windows 7 (loader) (on /dev/sda1)
which is problematic in several ways:
- The kernel versions that we show in the Ubuntu entries do not at all
relate to anything that we present to an average user in the rest of
the system ("what is a kernel anyway?").
- There are multiple Ubuntus to choose from, with the average user not
really knowing what the difference should be. ("Why do I have multiple
Ubuntus now?" / "Why keep these old versions if there is a newer
one?")
- The memory test entries are not useful most of the time, but still
very visibly clutter the boot menu and make it more tedious to select
the secondary operating system entries beneath them.
- The Windows entry has a "(loader)" suffix appended which seemingly
signifies that it boots from a separate boot partition (as is the
default case for Windows Vista and 7), but is absolutely needless
information to the user.
Ideally, the menu would look something like this:
Ubuntu 12.04
Ubuntu 12.04 (recovery mode)
Windows 7
or, including the second newest kernel version:
Ubuntu 12.04
Ubuntu 12.04 (recovery mode)
Ubuntu 12.04 (last known good)
Windows 7
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