ln -s /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.27.9-159.fc10.x86_64 /boot/vmlinuz (was: Re: Fedora tested in c't: grub missing feature)

[Thorsten Leemhuis]

On 03.02.2009 23:16, Christoph Höger wrote:
 >
> Among other criticisms one thing was really annoying: When a user
> installs fedora on a machine with windows installed (common use case) it
> detects that installation and offers to add it to grub. But installing
> fedora on a box with an already present linux distro installation will
> yield that installation removed from grub.
> 
> I understand that the bootloader is a part of the distro and its
> configuration gets changed e.g. during kernel updates, but is there
> really only the answer to remove one distribution completely?
> Do we really want to support Windows as second OS more than OpenSUSE or
> Ubuntu (or CentOS, or Debian, or Gentoo, or ........)
> At least the anaconda team should consider printing a warning about one
> OS going to "be lost" during install and how to recover.

One thing related to this: OpenSuse and Ubuntu on install hardcode the 
path to the (latest?) Fedora kernel in their grub menu.lst if they 
detect a Fedora install somewhere on the disk.

But that iirc breaks after a few Fedora kernels updates, because the 
Fedora kernel that was present and configured in the menu.lst from 
OpenSuse or Ubuntu gets removed sooner or later. Users thus can't boot 
Fedora anymore with the boot loaders from OpenSuse or Ubuntu (which 
might be the default boot loader); users then might stick to OpenSuse or 
Ubuntu and most will likely blame Fedora for their problem, because "it 
suddenly didn't boot anymore after I updated it".

Thus I'm wondering if we should make /sbin/new-kernel-pkg add the links 
/boot/vmlinuz and /boot/initrd on kernel-install and let them point to 
the lastet kernel/initrd (the one from the kernel that is made default 
in our grub on install). Then OpenSuse and Ubuntu could use those files 
instead of the full vmlinuz/initrd path in their grub configuration and 
users would be able to start Fedora even after a few kernel updates from 
Fedora got installed.

CU
knurd