Re: [PATCH v4] templates: introduce GRUB_TOP_LEVEL_* vars

[Denton Liu <liu.denton@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Olaf,

On Tue, Oct 18, 2022 at 01:12:35PM +0200, Olaf Hering wrote:
> Mon, 17 Oct 2022 03:35:32 -0700 Denton Liu <liu.denton@xxxxxxxxx>:
> 
> > A user may wish to use an image that is not sorted as the "latest"
> > version as the top-level entry. 
> 
> Correct.
> 
> What is really required is some form of file pattern matching and to use 
> --id= in "menuentry title" commands.
> 
> That way one can have the "latest" of /boot/${short_pattern} as default 
> entry, in case there are multiple variants of files matching 
> ${short_pattern}. The pattern gets enabled with "grub-set-default pattern".

If I'm understanding correctly, what you're proposing is a mechanism for
setting the default entry. If I'm not mistaken, this seems like an
orthogonal discussion to me. My patch proposes a method of setting the
top-level menu entry while this method only sets the default entry,
which may be hidden behind a submenu.

In my case, I keep a LTS kernel as backup but primarily use the latest
kernel as my daily driver. I only ever boot into the LTS kernel in case
there are any breakages, which is quite rare. As such, while it is
possible for me to configure my default to point within a submenu to the
non-LTS kernel, it seems like a bad user experience for Grub to impose a
top-level entry on the user, even if that entry is almost never used.

Allowing users to configure the top-level entry to fit their needs would
certainly make for happier users.

Thanks,
Denton