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Softpedia News reports that version 2.02 of the GRUB boot loader has been released. Among the many new features are support for LZ4 compression on ZFS, 64-bit ext2, XFS v5, Morse code output and a modem-like output through the PC speaker, Xen paravirtualisation, TrueCrypt ISOs, Apple fat binaries on non-Apple hardware, and 16-bit mode on non-x86 hardware.
Further information:
NEWS file
Related stories:
Windows 8 Update Erases Grub, Enables Secure Boot
Press Backspace 28 times: Pwn Unlucky Linux Systems Running GRUB
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HELP! Man trapped in a human body!
(Score: 2) by its_gonna_be_yuge! on Saturday April 29 2017, @11:09PM (8 children)
I've got nothing against GRUB, but there wasn't any good reason to change after so many years, so I didn't.
Hopefully somebody will pick up development of LILO again.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 29 2017, @11:29PM (2 children)
(Score: 2, Interesting) by butthurt on Saturday April 29 2017, @11:35PM
The department line in the original submission says "LI".
(Score: 1) by turgid on Monday May 01 2017, @02:11PM
Indeed. When I upgraded to 3TB hard disks, I had to switch to Syslinux from LILO. 21 years I'd been usiing LILO...
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 30 2017, @12:38AM (4 children)
Unlike what most people think, GRUB is not the only game in town. LILO was only recently abandoned, basically feature stable and there are a couple of alternatives to GRUB like the SYSLINUX suite and rEFInd. The interesting thing is that the UEFI specification contains its own boot manager, which means that a boot loader isn't really required anymore and most distros are EFISTUB by default now so setup is just copying the correct files and a single efibootmgr command.
(Score: 5, Touché) by bzipitidoo on Sunday April 30 2017, @03:25AM (3 children)
UEFI is not libre, and not trustworthy. I sure wouldn't rely on its boot manager. You never know when they'll toggle a single bit that makes the PC able to boot nothing except Windows 10. That whole Secure Boot fiasco served as a loud warning. Like a lot of smart TVs, it may be programmed to check online periodically for updates, and silently install them whenever a new one is found.
Even apart from their neglectful attitude towards Linux, silent, forced updating is a big no-no on production systems. I haven't heard of any UEFI programmed to do that, but it could be, it has that capability. I'm not confident that the UEFI producers fully understand you never, ever mess with working production hardware. You only update when you must, to fix problems you are actually having.
Another bad feature of UEFI is its much larger size and complexity compared to BIOS. If you really want assurance that code is correct, you have to use formal verification. You can only do that on very small code bases. Even if you don't insist on formal verification of correctness, the additional size, complexity, and power means there are more bad bugs in it. A mistake there can brick a computer. Errors in a PC BIOS have less ability to do serious damage.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 30 2017, @03:41AM (1 child)
UEFI is whatever the programmers make it, as long as they stick to the spec. It is so much more than x86/x86-64 from Intel and AMD. It can be used on any little-endian processor (section 1.8.1). You could have a completely FLOSS version running on RISC-V, if you want.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 30 2017, @07:33AM
Sticking to the spec and not deleting files if asked when the spec says you must not, for example, sure.
(Score: 2) by epitaxial on Sunday April 30 2017, @05:00AM
Have you ever looked at Libreboot? It only supports a handful of motherboards which are nearly 10 years old now. It should be ready about the same time as Hurd.