So anyway, it was like, 17:25 CEST Oct 26 2004, you know? Oh, and, yeah,
Sybren Stuvel was all like, "Dude,
> Johan Lindquist enlightened us with:
>> Remotely, maybe.. and that's assuming the kernel actually boots in
>> a way that gives you the opportunity to reboot and get the old one
>> back if something malfunctions.
>
> Many remote systems have a remotely controllable power switch. It's
> not only useful for remote systems, though. I don't want to have
> an untested (by me) kernel set up as boot default. When I reboot
> to give a new kernel a try, I do want just that, though, because I
> often forget to choose my new kernel at boot time ;-)
Seriously, if I'm trying out a new kernel, I /will/ be looking at the
machine as it boots. I will /not/ be off making tea for the seconds
it takes for it to shutdown and come up again, so I'm not all that
worried about missing my timing or forgetting to pick the new or
temporary kernel if that's what I'm planning on doing.
I doubt I'd actually test a new kernel remotely either, but I could
see the need for it. Assuming I had a serial console (or a pc weasel,
I'd love one of those pricey puppies) on the box so I could watch the
output during boot. Or if the box was next door so I could mosey on
over if it didn't seem to come back up again.
Not an ideal situation, but sure. I've done it.
[..]
>> How does it work anyway? Does it change the boot sector and then
>> change it back while booting? I admit I don't know all that much
>> about lilo or booting in particular to discuss the finer points.
>
> I don't know exactly. My guess is that it modifies it's own code in
> the boot sector.
I think I prefer making the change manually during boot, regardless of
lilo (or grub) having the option to install a kernel temporarily.
This is not quite on the topic of the original post any more tho, and
I do realise the skin usually looks the same no matter which method
you use on the poor feline.
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