[lug] GRUB2 Compatibility: Mostly Fedora/Ubuntu, Some BIOS/UEFI

[Steve Litt]

On Wed, 19 Jul 2017 15:01:06 -0600
Zan Lynx <zlynx at acm.org> wrote:



> I believe that you're right that BIOS compatibility mode isn't tested.
> Why would it be, when UEFI is better by any measure.

For instance:

* Buggy UEFI "firmware" can permanently brick your hardware if you "do
  the wrong thing" in Linux. I've never heard of that with MBR.

* UEFI sets up a 2 way feedback loop between hardware boot, firmware
  boot, and user software. Feedback loops are intrinsically harder to
  troubleshoot.

* If you back up the first 512 bytes on a disk device booting with MBR,
  you KNOW you've got the whole thing. With UEFI, you must go through a
  whole rigamarole to know how much to back up.

* UEFI encourages "secure boot", which discourages the installation of
  most Linux distros. Some implementations have no way of making
  "secure boot" optional.

> These days it's like trying to run DOS on a modern system.

http://www.logicalfallacies.info/relevance/appeals/appeal-to-novelty/ 

SteveT

Steve Litt 
July 2017 featured book: Quit Joblessness: Start Your Own Business
http://www.troubleshooters.com/startbiz