Automatic GRUB installation only if GRUB isn't already installed

[Wenzhuo Zhang]

Pradeep Varadarajan wrote:
> There could be an option at the end of the installation process asking 
> if grub needs to be written. This would be really helpful.

I second your point. The graphical installer should ask whether grub 
needs to be installed and where to install (MBR or boot sector of a 
partition). It can default to install grub in MBR, but should offer 
advanced users a chance to change this default behavior.

I have a ThinkPad X32 which has a Rescue & Recovery partition.  When the 
"Access IBM" button is pressed on BIOS flash screen, the notebook (in 
factory shipped state) should boot into the R&R partition, but a special 
MBR is required to work with the "Access IBM" button. If the factory 
shipped MBR gets overwritten by grub, the "Access IBM" button will no 
longer work.

I knew this behavior before installing the newly shipped 6.06.1 
Desktop.  Assuming the graphic installer behaves like every other Linux 
distro installer does, I booted the Desktop CD and happily started 
installation without making a backup of the MBR. At the end of the 
installation, I was surprised to find the graphic installer overwrited 
the MBR without asking comfirmation. Now the "Access IBM" button can no 
longer work as expected.

Considering users may have all kinds of boot manager, I think it's a 
must for the graphic installer to offer a chance to choose where to 
install grub. And if grub is to be installed in MBR, it's a good idea 
for the installer to make a backup of the original MBR in /boot before 
overwriting it.

Wenzhuo