plan for a new boot loader
 

I'm thinking through plans for a new boot loader, initially for x86 systems. The motivation for this is simplicity. If what you want in a boot loader is a fancy graphical menu to choose from several systems to boot up, then look elsewhere. If you want to be able to hunt around your filesystem for various old kernels to boot, then look elsewhere. My goal for this is simple, quick, and reliable booting of mainly one system, although alternate systems will be part of the capability.

I will leave out any filesystem capability. Instead, the plan is to put kernel images, as well as separate initrd/initramfs images, directly in disk partitions. To update a kernel, you just write the replacement kernel directly into the partition. Same for an initrd/initramfs image. Support for alternate images in other partitions will be the backup mechanism in case writing that new image fails half way through.

The fact that the new GPT partition table supports 128 partitions was the big motivation to do this. I had wanted to make a boot loader for a number of years, but the limited number of partitions in the DOS partition table was a factor that was suggesting I needed to include support for at least one filesystem. But my feeling is that with GPT, I can keep the code simple and it will still be easy to have a dozen kernel images around.

I might still support the DOS partition table, too, or at least the primary partitions of it.

This is by no means a "one solution for everything". It is not intended as a replacement for GRUB or LILO or any other boot loader project. It is intended as a niche alternative for those who happen to find it better suits their needs than the others do. It will be, for me, that choice I wish had been there.

Any thoughts, ideas, or suggestions? If GRUB or LILO are not optimal for your needs, can you envision something else that would be?