Jarkko SakkinenJun 11, 2024
What is the advantage of systemd-boot over GRUB2? #systemd #grub #grub2
Show threadFarce MajeureJun 11, 2024
@jarkko it's simpler by way of supporting fewer types of systems and fewer things you can boot off of. TBH it has the same types of limitations, but more of them. It's not really a good way forward. OTOH using systemd-stub and putting the whole "bootloader" in an initrd is quite promising, but again only for UEFI systems.
Show threadJarkko SakkinenJun 11, 2024
@vathpela So, I'm now generating 2GB UEFI bootable image from BuildRoot recipes based on GRUB2. Previously based on busybox. So this is the context to be more specific. I don't care how my distribution works as long as I don't have to touch it :-)

I have no idea what "systemd-stub" even is (first time I'm hearing the word), but I guess in my use using systemd-boot could decrease the turn-over time in compilation by decreasing dependencies. I compile full operating system image from scratch when I do kernel development, not just kernel image, so decreasing that is already a benefit.
Show threadJarkko Sakkinen
@vathpela Anyway, I think I switch to systemd-boot in my kernel testing environment based on "less dependencies" :-) I.e. measurable benefit for the use case.
Jun 11, 2024 at 3:26pmWeb
Show threadJarkko SakkinenJun 11, 2024
@vathpela One pleasant surprise is that changing to systemd from busybox with stripped down configuration does not cause any significant increase to compilation time of the image. So I can stick to this configuration from now and improve it :-)

Also it is a huge benefit that I now generate a single img file that QEMU can host or I can burn it to USB stick and run tests on real hardware. So I guess I'm a happy systemd user then...