[ubuntu-uk] A GUI Grub editor?

[alan c]

My world is mostly populated by windows users who are interested in 
moving to linux - computer fairs, talks to local groups, friends etc. 
They have more than a healthy fear of change and usually can not cope 
well with command line or even file editing, certainly not at first.

A recent contact has just tried kubuntu, successfully (just) getting 
it installed onto a resized second HD, but wants to have the dual boot 
default to be windows, because linux is being 'tested', and anyway, 
the customer is always right.

In the past, when I was personally in that same status of wanting use 
of a lot of dual booting, with changes of mind, it happens I was using 
suse which has an excellent gui grub editor (and a pretty pretty boot 
menu display too). I used it quite a lot, even when starting with 
Kubuntu, to manage my grub needs even when kubuntu became my default, 
with no windows on the machine. Suse being used to help kubuntu use. :-)

My recent contact just about coped with the partitioning and install. 
I suspect some fatigue has occurred with him trying to find what can 
or cannot be done in linux land. It seems most of his MS office macros 
do not seem to work, for example. The culture change and his 
expectations are all a bit much for him I think.

Unfortunately, even the simplest (to me) editing of grub menu.1st is 
he says 'over my head', and I get the impression that the dual boot 
default to (k)ubuntu and the apparent difficulty in changing this to 
windows, has spooked this person into feeling even more loss of 
control than he had in windows.

This is a negative situation at a stage of linux introduction which I 
believe is not untypical. It is easy to forget what it felt like when 
first trying linux after years of couch potato use of windows.

The 'in-windows' exe installer which is under development will 
certainly help of course, in time.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I make the point that a gui grub editor 
would have a strong value for that precious breed - newbies. Maybe 
there is a gui grub editor easily available  for (k)ubuntu, but it did 
not appear in my searches.
-- 
alan cocks
Kubuntu user#10391