On Mon, 13 Aug 2007 13:01:38 -0400, George wrote:

> I have been told that it would be better to use GRUB vs. LILO. I am
> currently using LILO and have been using it for 10 years. It sounds like
> GRUB has some advantages.
>
> Questions:
> 1. Does Slackware 11.0 ship with GRUB?
>
Yes. Here's a mirror:
http://slackware.cs.utah.edu/pub/sla....0/extra/grub/
>
> 2. Is it difficult to move to GRUB when currently using LILO?
>
It /* shouldn't */ be too hard. Sometimes things fail to cooperate ;-\
I always recommend installing to the MBR. If that is not possible, then
create a boot CD-R as a secondary alternative. Installation on the
partition only is not supported with some filesystems.

> 3. It is worth the effort to move to GRUB?
>
It depends on how often you change kernels, if you dual boot, or if you
have a specific reason for switching to grub.

> 4. Will GRUB help in any way to stop a system from being corrupted after
> a power outage where Linux is not shut down properly?
>
A failed powerdown should have no effect on grub. I base this on that
as long as grub has been installed to disk (both the program, and the
components of the loader itself), and disk buffers are flushed, then it
is at a fixed location on the disk. The only way it can be damaged is if
the filesystem indexes are damaged beyond repair (and grub cannot be
located using them). Likewise, grub's stage1 loader at the MBR would
only be broken if it had not been written correctly in the first place.

Of course, any loader is subject to being broken by failed hardware (bad
disk sectors.)

--
Douglas Mayne

>
> Thanks