FC4t2 no good without LILO

[Mike Bird]

On Thu, 2005-04-14 at 14:41, Paul Iadonisi wrote:
> > grub-install ...
> 
>   So now we are getting somewhere.  In a phrase, DON'T DO THAT.  This is
> not lilo and whatever you might think of lilo vs. grub, that is one
> horribly hackish thing that lilo has done since, it seems, it's
> inception: update the boot record for every kernel update.  Grub doesn't
> do that, nor need to do that, nor should any bootloader need to do that.
> It's an inherently risky thing to do, as it could render your system
> unbootable with no recourse other than rescue mode, which is a little
> challenging for machines at remote data centers.

1) Writing the MBR, or any other boot record in the chain, is as near
atomic as makes no difference.

2) People are using Lilo now because Grub couldn't do the job until a
few days ago.  We'll ignore for now the question as to whether or not
Grub can do the job today.

3) To transition from using Lilo to using Grub requires grub-install, or
a lot of very delicate work with a magnetised needle in a clean room.

--Mike Bird