From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Received: from list by lists.gnu.org with archive (Exim 4.71) id 1T7K0x-00032k-Vw for mharc-grub-devel@gnu.org; Fri, 31 Aug 2012 01:43:31 -0400 Received: from eggs.gnu.org ([208.118.235.92]:37440) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1T7K0u-000306-Gg for grub-devel@gnu.org; Fri, 31 Aug 2012 01:43:29 -0400 Received: from Debian-exim by eggs.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1T7K0t-00073H-9U for grub-devel@gnu.org; Fri, 31 Aug 2012 01:43:28 -0400 Received: from mail-wi0-f177.google.com ([209.85.212.177]:40428) by eggs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1T7K0t-000738-07 for grub-devel@gnu.org; Fri, 31 Aug 2012 01:43:27 -0400 Received: by wibhn17 with SMTP id hn17so864171wib.12 for ; Thu, 30 Aug 2012 22:43:25 -0700 (PDT) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=20120113; h=message-id:date:from:user-agent:mime-version:to:subject:references :in-reply-to:x-enigmail-version:content-type; bh=13Oa1kRg0kTV5V3+Cw1Pkd/N+n5QJWxcu5o8STWQNoI=; b=qPPMgIAGu5Jn6sA+oKD75WkKRNFK1Gkmo6+WOUbzzysZ23lu2gketfTEu/XuCFU2Bc jzF/mZKUfM1AHSmzPOnD60Qor6enTJefP+odl77j+O7qH93PETlNzut5eBhXI+xbK4ds 0QEl62j8Z6/c1XYGkYmoADBU/CAEK6sRCkQDsQcWiEU4XeJ56iIRZeDRws5dia2wn1PB QqXvcA4YFJT5Qr2IZ5et7gvqwm7/ABeQRlOyu4nAj/CinuEBO84AenZzI/Uir9pXPn4G xkTo5j7tdv5K3KwYFKuXEfnpmlOQlbh2CriD5E+ZIOwRUz96vr2UrpKMsyVILeuBGS6/ ODuw== Received: by 10.216.234.231 with SMTP id s81mr4526663weq.34.1346391805549; Thu, 30 Aug 2012 22:43:25 -0700 (PDT) Received: from debian.x201.phnet (53-234.197-178.cust.bluewin.ch. [178.197.234.53]) by mx.google.com with ESMTPS id fb20sm6906527wid.1.2012.08.30.22.43.23 (version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=OTHER); Thu, 30 Aug 2012 22:43:24 -0700 (PDT) Message-ID: <50404EEF.3010008@gmail.com> Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2012 07:43:11 +0200 From: =?UTF-8?B?VmxhZGltaXIgJ8+GLWNvZGVyL3BoY29kZXInIFNlcmJpbmVua28=?= User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:10.0.6esrpre) Gecko/20120817 Icedove/10.0.6 MIME-Version: 1.0 To: grub-devel@gnu.org Subject: Re: chained grub2 derivative bootauto system References: In-Reply-To: X-Enigmail-Version: 1.4.1 Content-Type: multipart/signed; micalg=pgp-sha512; protocol="application/pgp-signature"; boundary="------------enig444D4FE8B510443CCDB168D1" X-detected-operating-system: by eggs.gnu.org: Genre and OS details not recognized. X-Received-From: 209.85.212.177 X-BeenThere: grub-devel@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.14 Precedence: list Reply-To: The development of GNU GRUB List-Id: The development of GNU GRUB List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2012 05:43:29 -0000 This is an OpenPGP/MIME signed message (RFC 2440 and 3156) --------------enig444D4FE8B510443CCDB168D1 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable On 30.08.2012 23:20, ivo welch wrote: >=20 > dear grub2 developers: >=20 > I have wrestled often with the problems of setting up grub2 on new > systems. I know booting is a low-level science in itself, so I don't > dare to pretend that I know anything. but I wanted to put up a small > starting bounty of $500 for a grub2 derivative type of boot loader, to= > be made available GPL, of course, in the main linux distributions (such= > as ubuntu) if one knowledgeable developer finds this interesting. >=20 >=20 You miss the fact that GRUB2 already has the abilities you describe with corresponding config files (see e.g. isoscan.cfg). > from the user perspective, this booting system should work as follows: >=20 > if the user holds any key during the boot process, the new "B" loader > (call it bootauto.bin) would scan all available partitions for bootable= > systems (such as Windows, linux, freebsd, etc.) and all root partitions= > for *.iso files, and present the user with a list of what it found > where, and put the default selection line on the OS that was most > recently booted. the user should be able to select one of these, and > then proceed booting from them. the user presumably could also enter > command line options at this stage, choose a common option (such as > "rescue", "single user", or "single user read-only"), or possibly see > all kernels, including older ones. bootauto.bin obviously needs a whol= e > lot more intelligence at boot time than what grub2 has. >=20 > if the user does not hold down a key, then bootauto.bin would boot > whatever it booted last, without delay. >=20 > the setup is similar to an OSX boot, where holding down an "ALT" key > presents all bootable OS's that are found. >=20 > there would be no more grub configuration files, grub-install commands,= > etc. bootauto.bin would do it all. bootauto.bin would presumably > always reside in a fixed spot, such as /bootauto.bin, and all that the > boot sector would have to do would be to find it and pass control to it= =2E >=20 > from a user perspective, creating live USB flash sticks with multiple > OS's, or booting from another hard disk now becomes much simpler. end > users only need to connect the bootable device or connect USB stick wit= h > a couple of ISOs on them, and it just works. >=20 > the system-wide first-time installation of the bootloader would consist= > of one command that copies the bootauto.bin file to a designated > partition and writes the bootsector. "bootauto-install /dev/sda > /mnt/sda1" would install the boot sector on /dev/sda that chain loads > the B loader bootauto.bin on mnt/sda1/bootauto.bin (whatever file syste= m > /mnt/sda1/ uses; could be ntfs, ext4, etc). the only error should be > that /mnt/sda1 cannot be written. no mysterious chroots, no --binds, n= o > uuid's, no grub configuration file consultation. no problems if disks > get rearranged on the next boot. simple. >=20 > it doesn't have to work on legacy systems more than 5 years old, either= =2E > this is to move forward. /bootauto.bin can be big. >=20 >=20 > if interested, send me a personal email, please. I will pay upon > completion (or put it into an escrow account at the FSF or another > reasonable place). maybe some others will supplement the funding---I > know that $500 won't pay for it all. I just wanted to start the ball > rolling, and put my money where my mouth is. >=20 > sincerely, >=20 > /iaw > ---- > Ivo Welch (ivo.welch@gmail.com ) >=20 >=20 >=20 > _______________________________________________ > Grub-devel mailing list > Grub-devel@gnu.org > https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/grub-devel --=20 Regards Vladimir '=CF=86-coder/phcoder' Serbinenko --------------enig444D4FE8B510443CCDB168D1 Content-Type: application/pgp-signature; name="signature.asc" Content-Description: OpenPGP digital signature Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="signature.asc" -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.12 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org/ iF4EAREKAAYFAlBATvYACgkQNak7dOguQgnv4QEAvsSCbhMYYIptApR22C+Hgsyu 8zD9Hglzm9uP/jtTkYAA/j35Z7raW8vzGkXM0xre2EkLiSv0ROH1Jv7gueQiPVMi =LyKg -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- --------------enig444D4FE8B510443CCDB168D1--