Re: Automatically detect other OSs and generate grub entries

[ludo@gnu.org (Ludovic Courtès)]

Arun Isaac <arunisaac@systemreboot.net> skribis:

> Ludovic Courtès writes:
>
>> Arun Isaac <arunisaac@systemreboot.net> skribis:
>>
>>> Instead of having to manually specify custom grub entries in config.scm,
>>> can Guix use os-prober to automatically detect other operating system
>>> and generate grub entries?
>>>
>>> https://joeyh.name/code/os-prober/
>>
>> I think there is value in having everything in the GuixSD config, which
>> can then be put under version control.
>>
>> Now, I have a single OS on my machines so I’m probably not part of the
>> target audience.  :-)
>>
>> Thoughts?
>
> I too now only have a single OS. So, I don't really need this feature
> either. But, I do think we should offer an user experience as close as
> possible to other distros. Hence, I think automatic os detection and
> grub generation is worthwile. It's nice to have the grub work
> automagically out of the box.

I agree.  Perhaps we can use/tweak os-prober to generate ‘menu-entry’
forms suitable for use in the GuixSD config file?

> Also, I noticed that custom grub entries are a problem for the proposed
> "guix system delete-generations"
>
> https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/guix-devel/2017-03/msg00194.html
>
> Would automatic grub generation solve, or at least alleviate, this
> problem?

No, I think we still need to support entries specified in the OS config.

Ludo’.