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[Derek Martin]

Yesterday, Lars Kellogg-Stedman gleaned this insight:

> > I've got a friend asking me to install Linux on his laptop.  He
> wants it dual > boot, but doesn't like the idea of a bootloader.
> 
> I once new a man who refused to use microwaves because he "didn't like what
> they did to the food."  To which I replied, "what, cook it?".
> 
> This strikes me as being in the same category.  Your friend will lose
> *nothing* by using a bootloader.  All he's doing he demonstrating an odd
> case of technophobia.

I more-or-less agree with your assessment, but that doesn't mean one
should or shouldn't use a boot loader (or a microwave for that matter)!  

In the case of the microwave, the difference is taste.  Just as a broiled
steak tastes different from a fried steak, microwaving a steak imparts a
distinct flavor to the meat that I, for one, find utterly repulsive. I
would NEVER[1] eat microwaved steak.  Otherwise, I quite enjoy a good
steak.  Other people might actually prefer microwaved steak to grilled
(though I would be inclined to think they were bonkers...)  8^)

This is essentially the case with a bootloader.  It comes down to a matter
of preference.  You and I like lilo, and others prefer loadlin.  That's
what Unix, and especially Linux, is all about: choice.



[1] I suppose it's possible that someone, somewhere has mastered some
technique to cooking steak in a microwave that does not utterly ruin it,
so as to fool me into thinking it was not microwaved; however in my
experience, even so much as warming a steak in such a device is enough to
ruin the flavor, so I have my doubts...

-- 
PGP/GPG Public key at http://cerberus.ne.mediaone.net/~derek/pubkey.txt
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Derek D. Martin      |  Unix/Linux Geek
derekm at mediaone.net  |  derek at cerberus.ne.mediaone.net
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