[solved]GRUB2, labelling of boot options and Arch 'GNU/Linux'

edh · 2013-01-13 20:33:57

First of all, this isn't supposed to be any kind of flame thread about Linux vs. GNU/Linux naming. All of those things have already been said elsewhere by many people and I don't want to talk about them... :-)

I've recently moved to GRUB2 and come across something not technically of any significance but of annoyance. By default the new grub.cfg lists each boot entry as 'Arch GNU/Linux'. This is incorrect as the distribution is called 'Arch Linux', check the banner at the top of the forum if you don't believe me and the trademark held is also 'Arch Linux'. ;-) So why is GRUB2 now calling it Arch GNU/Linux? This is a misbranding and is bad if the distro is installed and calls itself something different on the Boot loader.

Editing the grub.cfg file seems obvious enough but you're not supposed to do that now, you're supposed to edit the default file and run grub-mkconfig to regenerate grub.cfg. Here's the annoying thing: It will reset it back to Arch GNU/Linux.

Looking through all of the config files there does not seem to any way of configuring Grub so that it names the boot options any differently, there are plenty of other reasons why you might want to do so. Have I missed something in one of these files or does it pull it from somewhere else? There has to be some way of setting these up so that they don't have to be manually changed each time should a user want to name their menu entries differently.

I'm of course not suggesting this is some RMS conspiracy hardcoded into GRUB2 to automatically replace 'Linux' with 'GNU/Linux...

Last edited by edh (2013-01-15 10:38:17)

2ManyDogs · 2013-01-13 21:51:03

grub-mkconfig uses the scripts in /etc/grub.d to create grub.cfg. Look at your grub.cfg. Can you tell which script creates the entries you don't like? Now go look at the appropriate script in /etc/grub.d. If you really can't figure out which one to change, look at all of them. Can you see anything you might be able to edit to change the entry names?

Last edited by 2ManyDogs (2013-01-13 21:51:54)

cfr · 2013-01-13 21:54:40

Incidentally, it works perfectly fine to manage grub.cfg manually in Arch because updates won't overwrite the file as they do in most distros.

Snowman · 2013-01-14 04:50:25

Open a bug report. It should be 'Arch Linux'.

sebcactus · 2013-01-14 10:30:16

2ManyDogs wrote:

grub-mkconfig uses the scripts in /etc/grub.d to create grub.cfg. Look at your grub.cfg. Can you tell which script creates the entries you don't like? Now go look at the appropriate script in /etc/grub.d. If you really can't figure out which one to change, look at all of them. Can you see anything you might be able to edit to change the entry names?

Actually it is in "/etc/grub.d/10_linux" replace GNU/Linux with Linux and here you go.

2ManyDogs · 2013-01-14 12:24:31

sebcactus wrote:

Actually it is in "/etc/grub.d/10_linux" replace GNU/Linux with Linux and here you go.

I was trying to teach him how to solve problems for himself...

Last edited by 2ManyDogs (2013-01-14 12:25:48)

edh · 2013-01-14 18:25:11

cfr wrote:

Incidentally, it works perfectly fine to manage grub.cfg manually in Arch because updates won't overwrite the file as they do in most distros.

It does say on the Wiki 'Editing this file is strongly not recommended' and also in the file itself. I'm not entirely convinced that this is a good thing. With GRUB legacy you only have menu.lst to worry about and this is a very simple structure. Maybe Arch doesn't automatically overwrite it itself at any point but the software and the documentation already tells you not to modify grub.cfg.

Snowman wrote:

Open a bug report. It should be 'Arch Linux'.

Reported here: https://bugs.archlinux.org/task/33393

sebcactus wrote:

Actually it is in "/etc/grub.d/10_linux" replace GNU/Linux with Linux and here you go.

I'd already taken a look through that but thanks for pinpointing it again. I have to say I don't think it's structure appears appropriate for something that users are expected to edit for such a simple task. It basically expects people to have knowledge of the bootloader and edit multiple files before they can even boot their system on a new installation. It doesn't appear in keeping with the KISS principle.

2ManyDogs wrote:

I was trying to teach him how to solve problems for himself...

I'm sorry but that's a really demeaning response. You really didn't need to write it. I am well aware of how to solve problems myself so please do not assume that you are in a position to 'teach' as you put it. What this is about is finding the most appropriate path to change a configuration and given the complex structure of the /etc/grub.d files which includes code in its content, there is no simple way of doing so. The software and documentation tells you not to modify it the easy way, instead expecting you to modify what is not merely a config file but code also.

Inxsible · 2013-01-14 20:13:30

Use Syslinux .

Never taken a liking to grub2 after using grub for so long.

cfr · 2013-01-14 21:21:54

I started managing grub.cfg manually when I found out that's what the person maintaining the package for Arch did and that's why a bug which caused errors on boot slipped through - because the script was not actually tested by the person putting it together for the package.

But, yes, I know that's what it says.

I actually only use grub as a back up loader now but I still have a manually configured grub.cfg. It is actually possible to understand it that way and everything is in one place. In Fedora I don't do it this way because the system (should) update the file automatically on upgrade but in Arch, it is a little different.

Note that the file itself only says not to edit it manually if you generate the file manually in the first place. If you just write it from scratch or borrow an example from somebody else, it will say no such thing .

edh · 2013-01-14 22:16:27

cfr wrote:

I started managing grub.cfg manually when I found out that's what the person maintaining the package for Arch did.

Interesting. I've set up 2 systems with Grub2 and on the first system I did do it the manual way, because that's what I've always done with Grub legacy. Only later did I realise what it says in the Wiki and what the scripts were for so for the second system I did it the proper way and came across more problems! Setting up an option to boot into Windows was much easier the 'bad' way.

As you say, I know that's what it says.

cfr wrote:

I still have a manually configured grub.cfg. It is actually possible to understand it that way and everything is in one place.

Totally agree with you. Multiple config files for something so simple as a couple of lines on a menu is not inline with KISS.

Last edited by edh (2013-01-14 22:17:11)

edh · 2013-01-15 10:39:26

This has now been solved in the Grub2 package and the issue closed so future installs and new install media should list it as Arch Linux again. Thanks to those involved.

Arch Linux

#1 2013-01-13 20:33:57

[solved]GRUB2, labelling of boot options and Arch 'GNU/Linux'

#2 2013-01-13 21:51:03

Re: [solved]GRUB2, labelling of boot options and Arch 'GNU/Linux'

#3 2013-01-13 21:54:40

Re: [solved]GRUB2, labelling of boot options and Arch 'GNU/Linux'

#4 2013-01-14 04:50:25

Re: [solved]GRUB2, labelling of boot options and Arch 'GNU/Linux'

#5 2013-01-14 10:30:16

Re: [solved]GRUB2, labelling of boot options and Arch 'GNU/Linux'

#6 2013-01-14 12:24:31

Re: [solved]GRUB2, labelling of boot options and Arch 'GNU/Linux'

#7 2013-01-14 18:25:11

Re: [solved]GRUB2, labelling of boot options and Arch 'GNU/Linux'

#8 2013-01-14 20:13:30

Re: [solved]GRUB2, labelling of boot options and Arch 'GNU/Linux'

#9 2013-01-14 21:21:54

Re: [solved]GRUB2, labelling of boot options and Arch 'GNU/Linux'

#10 2013-01-14 22:16:27

Re: [solved]GRUB2, labelling of boot options and Arch 'GNU/Linux'

#11 2013-01-15 10:39:26

Re: [solved]GRUB2, labelling of boot options and Arch 'GNU/Linux'

Board footer