Ubuntu Preview

John dingo at coco2.arach.net.au
Mon Sep 20 07:39:01 UTC 2004


Colin Watson wrote:

>>>If they bother you, you can turn them off.  Read kernel-img.conf(5).
>>>      
>>>
>>I suggest turning them on only if they're needed.
>>    
>>
>
>They're needed for the Debian/Ubuntu packaging of all bootloaders, which
>all rely on the symlinks so that kernel upgrades don't have to run
>around editing bootloader configuration files, which is flaky and risky.
>  
>

They are not used in grub, even in Ubuntu.  The only reference to a 
possible symlink in grub is in the comments.

update-grub is very good, it automatically scans /boot for all kernels 
and matching initrd and makes grub stanzas for each. There is some user 
configuration available, read the comments for the full details.

I have no NewWorld macs running Linux of any kind, the only Macs I have 
running Linux are oldworld, and those use quik whic cannot use symlinks.


>Since they're always needed in default configurations (and this is a
>good thing, although at some point they might be moved into /boot, where
>they are on powerpc), I think this discussion is probably moot.
>
>If you want to ditch the symlinks, you'll have to manage the bootloader
>configuration file yourself. However, naïve users should not be forced
>to do this.
>  
>
I've been running wo symlinks for quite some time.

On IA32 there is nothing special for users to do if the kernel stuff is 
configured properly (I've not checked). Whenever a kernel is add or 
removed, update-grub should be run (it is on Sarge) and the new menu is 
built.

I can't find where it's configured on Sarge so I assume it's default 
behaviour now.






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