New kernel, should be the default (see also hiddenmenu).

[Ricardo Veguilla]

On Tue, 2004-10-12 at 08:32 -0400, ne... wrote:
> On Oct 12, 2004 at 04:55, Ricardo Veguilla in a soothing rage wrote:
> 
> >On Mon, 2004-10-11 at 17:34 -0700, Tom Mitchell wrote:
> >> On Sun, Oct 10, 2004 at 05:36:05PM -0400, ne... wrote:
> >> > On Oct 10, 2004 at 11:21, Scott Talbot in a soothing rage wrote:
> >> > 
> >> > >seems to me that those who don't want the kernel defaulted, probably
> >> > >wouldn't want it downloaded either and could, therefore, make use of the
> >> > >(yum) --exclude=kernel option or up2date's packages to skip feature.
> >> > >That way we each get what we want.
> >> > In my case you are totally wrong. I want the kernel dl'd, installed 
> >> > but not defaulted to. When I reboot and determine that I like the 
> >> > kernel, I can make the necessary adjustments to grub myself.
> >> 
> >> Then I suspect  you are in a group that should be watching
> >> the grub directive:
> >> 
> >>     hiddenmenu
> You suspect right. I have commented this out after nearly been
> bitten by it.
> 
> >> I have mixed opinions about which kernel should boot (new and unknown
> >> or known).  I do have an opinion that the menu should not be hidden.
> >> 
> >> A hidden menu makes the presence of a new kernel 'invisible'.
> >> This has impact in that "users" will not see that there
> >> is a new or older safety net kernel.
> >> 
> >> They will also not see a long list of disk space hogs
> >> that eventually should be tidied up.
> >> 
> >> The FC3test3 clean install default is "hiddenmenu".
> >
> >I think that "hiddenmenu" (and defaulting to the latest kernel) are 
> >appropriate for stable releases, where is reasonable for a user to assume 
> >that any update was previously tested and won't break his computer 
> >
> >In case of trouble, there should be a very clear[1] 
> >"press X for advanced/recovery/failsafe options" (show menu)
> >
> >
> >[1] I don't know how clear this is, ATM.
> It is reasonably clear. However, if like me, you have changed the
> default countdown in grub to something small, you may have to reboot
> a couple of times to read the stuff, hit the <any> key to show the
> menu and choose the kernel you want.

Yeah, same here. Anyway, I was thinking more in the case of people using
stock configurations.

Maybe the whole boot system should be a little more intelligent with
respect to this. For example, if the system could "know" there was a
problem the last time the system booted, and automatically show some
failsafe options the next time you boot. Obviously, this should be
configurable.

Regards,
-- 
Ricardo Veguilla <veguilla at hpcf.upr.edu>