Hello I'm installing Oracle VM 2.2.1 and during installation, the install poses a question I've never considered before: "Where do you want to install the boot loader?" This is grub, BTW.

I've always selected the default /dev/sda which is the MBR.

I see from google the advantage appears to be that when installed on the /dev/sda1 the boot is editable/configurable. Does anyone have a preference for this option? What do you see as the advantages/disadvantages of selecting one over the other?

I looked at your archives and couldn't pin down a response that matched my question. Thanks!

Are we just talking about Linux in general?

I have never done anything but the MBR. My understanding is that the primary reason anyone would install the bootloader into a partition rather than the MBR is incase something went wrong during installation. In the early days, Linux bootloaders were not quite as reliable, so the idea was that if it should fail, your MBR would still be workable and you could boot to another partition/OS.

I could be wrong about that, but surely the default on modern Linux systems is to go straight to the MBR.

If you are installing this as the (base) hipervisor, you must install the loader code to the MBR.
Install to the partition boot sector record when you need to chainload to it - from another bootloader that is already in the MBR. Say if dual-booting.
If installing as a second-level hipervisor (i.e as a guest), install to the guests MBR.