Grub or Systemd-boot?

systemd-boot is my preferred solution but it isn’t for everyone. Here is my pros/cons list if that helps:

Cons

  • systemd-boot requires the kernels/initrds to be in the EFI partition, grub doesn’t
    • It also means that the efi partition has to be larger. If you have 100MB efi partition that probably isn’t going to work
  • It is UEFI only, there is no support for legacy boot
  • Grub has a fleet of options for customizations of the menu

Neutral

  • systemd-boot can boot windows without issue.
  • It can also multi-boot linux distros as long as they all support systemd-boot

Pros

  • Almost everything “just works” without any configuration, encryption/btrfs/zfs/etc
  • Nothing has to be rebuilt. If you need to change something you edit the entry file. In most cases that isn’t even needed.
  • Because the config is simple, it is also easy to read
  • When use systemd-boot to boot multiple Linux distros, each distro is responsible for managing it’s own entries so you don’t have to worry about one distro stepping on another

Hope that helps!

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