Systemd Lands Support For "XBOOTLDR" Extended Boot Loader

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Systemd Lands Support For "XBOOTLDR" Extended Boot Loader

Systemd has just merged support for the "Extended Boot Loader" partition, a.k.a. "XBOOTLDR", that is their bootloader specification they hope will allow Linux distribution vendors to better support dual/multi-boot setups...

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Systemd-Lands-XBOOTLDR

[bitman]

Link broken. hef->href.

[Michael]

Link broken. hef->href.

Fixed thanks

[Redfoxmoon]

We've already got GRUB though. I'll get the popcorn!

[yzsolt]

TL;DR: Currently there’s little cooperation between multiple distributions in dual-boot (or triple, … multi-boot) setups, and we’d like to improve this situation by getting everybody to commit to a single boot configuration format (...)

https://xkcd.com/927/

[Britoid]

We've already got GRUB though. I'll get the popcorn!

Which loves overwriting another installs boot settings, can't be used in places where the disk ids might change etc.


Why not just fork refind or something?

[boxie]

We've already got GRUB though. I'll get the popcorn!

sifn't use lilo :P

[jrch2k8]

Awesome and for those whining, systemd-boot is not a hard replacement for anything just a way lighter(better depending your needs) implementation of existing standards.

For example, in my case systemd-boot hands down behave better than grub or lilo on ZFS boot UEFI systems simply because both grub and lilo are way slower and need to support the target FS before boot whereas systemd-boot just let the kernel do its job with the most absolute minimal intervention, hence systemd-boot allows a fully upgraded ZFS system boot directly with all the bells and whistles instantly whereas Grub require a version 5000 with a mininal features enable or you get an unbootable system, even the most weird booting setups like mixed ISCSI/ Local SAS drive LARGEDNODES boot aware ZPOOLS with snaptshots on root volumes work like a charm on all the UEFI system i've tried so far where GRUB simply can't do it and LILO even less.

BUT if you have a simply drive Ext4 OS dual boot with your Win10, then GRUB is just easier an systemd-boot won't even try to mess with it

[Danny3]

It would be awesome if this can be then used by Linux desktop environments to create a more complex restart menu like:
-Restart into Linux (same distro)
-Restart into Windows (or other operating system)
Or even more complex like my Lineage OS has on my phone
- Restart into System (same operating system)
- Restart into Recovery mode
- Restart into Download mode
I don't know what Recovery and Download mode equivalent for Linux would be, but in any case the "Restart into Windows" for me would be very helpful.

[S.Pam]

The SystemD OS and kernel is soon here... Might not even be a bad idea 💡