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Idea #9028: Rename Grub Menu Boot Options to be less Confusing

Written by LostOverThere the 24 May 08 at 11:53. Category: System. Related project: Nothing/Others. Status: New
Rationale
Currently, the default Grub Menu is ultra confusing for the average user. When a first time Linux user boots their system, they see three confusing boot options. Which one are they meant to select?

It would be more intuitive if the Grub Boot Menu Options were as followed:

Ubuntu 8.04
Ubuntu 8.04 (Fail-Safe)
Ubuntu 8.04 (Memory Test)
Microsoft Windows

This way, all the boot options are available, but the user can almost instantly understand what they are and what they mean.
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Solution #1: Auto-generated solution of idea #9028
Written by LostOverThere the 24 May 08 at 11:53.
Ubuntu Brainstorm was updated in January 2009. Since the idea #9028 was submitted before this update, its rationale and solution are not separated. Please vote accordingly, and if you have the necessary rights, please separate the rationale from the solution. Thanks!

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tomaszx wrote on the 24 May 08 at 13:38
yes, and who would get kernel version always can press 'e' to edit and look for this.

+1 good idea

Ssdg wrote on the 24 May 08 at 14:53
I don't agree, I sometimes use some kernel modules that are not in the repositories (for my webcam) or updated immediatly (for VirtualBox OSE) and I want to keep my kernel names on sight. and by the way, do you really think an average user (and by average I mean not forced to understand the english langage) would see the difference "fail safe" and "safe mode"?

Where he trapped or attacked by aliens last time when a geek he knows installed him ubuntu (they are scared to install MSN, yahoo messenger or google Talk, so don't tell me about something you need to burn a CD yourself to install) and booted in normal mode? I hope they aren't that dumb to try safe mode just to do everyday tasks.

so -1

Eldmannen wrote on the 24 May 08 at 16:21
Then what if you upgrade your kernel and it don't work?
It is good that you can pick which kernel to boot.

Also, when I boot my computer, I don't get any grub menu, it just boots Ubuntu, so its not "ultra confusing" (lol).

JimmyBEng wrote on the 24 May 08 at 16:27
I'm confused I just looked in my grub menu.lst file and my entries are as follows:

Ubuntu 8.04, kernel 2.6.24-16-generic
Ubuntu 8.04, kernel 2.6.24-16-generic (recovery mode)
Ubuntu 8.04, memtest86+

I don't remember doing much tweaking on this file.

I can't see why removing the kernel numbers makes this easier to understand, so -1.

henk0775 wrote on the 24 May 08 at 16:48
It's better for me this (consider a mock up :-D):

- Ubuntu
- [Any other os]

- Advanced

Where Advanced is another screen where you can read the options like each kernel installed, each recovery modes and whatever you want.

I prefer a timed out screen with ubuntu as default, because I nuked Wondows.

Jadd wrote on the 24 May 08 at 18:55
And get rid of Windows Longhorn, it's called Vista!

korvins wrote on the 25 May 08 at 09:36
+1. If someone changes their kernel they should show the complete name, but the default installation should be simply that.

rakudave wrote on the 2 Jun 08 at 16:11
i agree with ssdg
best way if something whith the kernel update went wrong

jschuurk wrote on the 1 Aug 08 at 14:32
I don't remove the old kernel versions. How will the automatically generated menu.lst look like without kernel versions? Like this perhaps:
Ubuntu 8.04
Ubuntu 8.04 (Fail-Safe)
Ubuntu 8.04 (Memory Test)
Ubuntu 8.04
Ubuntu 8.04 (Fail-Safe)
Ubuntu 8.04 (Memory Test)
That'd be quite bad, actually.


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