7.1. Make System Bootable

Note that multiple operating systems booting on a single machine is still something of a black art. This document does not even attempt to document the various boot managers, which vary by architecture and even by subarchitecture. You should see your boot manager's documentation for more information.

7.1.1. SPARC Boot Loaders

The standard sparc boot loader is called „silo“. It is documented in /usr/share/doc/silo/. SILO is similar in configuration and usage to LILO, with a few exceptions. First of all, SILO allows you to boot any kernel image on your drive, even if it is not listed in /etc/silo.conf. This is because SILO can actually read Linux partitions. Also, /etc/silo.conf is read at boot time, so there is no need to rerun silo after installing a new kernel like you would with LILO. SILO can also read UFS partitions, which means it can boot SunOS/Solaris partitions as well. This is useful if you want to install GNU/Linux along side an existing SunOS/Solaris install.

7.1.2. Diskless Workstations

If you are installing a diskless workstation, obviously, booting off the local disk isn't a meaningful option, and this step will be skipped. You may wish to set the OpenBoot to boot from the network by default; see Abschnitt 3.6.2, „Boot Device Selection“.