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Comment by andrepd | Hacker News Reader

Why even go through all that trouble in the first place?

Just add two OS'es to UEFI BIOS. Bootloaders easily break.

Windows doesn't support multiple EFI System Partitions on one system¹, and it will nuke the default EFI boot image (bootx64.efi) on the ESP it uses whenever it updates or does startup repair. So if you do this make sure you have configured the Linux system to write EFI variables and know that if you ever clear them, you may lose the ability to boot Linux until you perform a repair.

Dual booting sucks. Don't do it, especially if you're new to Linux.

1: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-clien...

It's always seemed to me that dual-booting sucks because Microsoft ensure it sucks. Basically every one who wants to have a Linux distro and Windows on the same box has to work around MS being a dick. Their hope is that you give up and stick with Windows, presumably. It just makes me more keen not to use Windows.

> It's always seemed to me that dual-booting sucks because Microsoft ensure it sucks.

Up to W7 it was quite well behaved. Afterwards, it was like Microsoft ensured there was debris clogging the emergency exits before setting the whole building on fire, to make hard for people to escape. Now W11 is full of dark patterns and tracking, and dual-boot is broken. Beginners lost a easy way to get their feet wet on Linux without upfront commitment to a full switch.

Dual booting sucks. Don't do it, especially if you're new to Linux.

I’m gonna give it a go. I first installed Linux from a shareware CD I purchased from my local Micro Center in 1996.

Still remember Slackware fondly! And qmail - great email program.

Sounds like you'll have to trouble managing your bootloaders should they break, and you might even enjoy learning some quirks about how both Windows and your distro of choice treat the ESP.

Have fun! May the source be with you ;)

Buy a second SSD, install linux and duel boot by switching UEFI boot option. You can even reboot into UEFI from windows and Linux. It's about as easy as it gets with minimal effort. Or you can setup an efi bootloader on Linux disk that allows you to launch windows instead. These days duel booting is easier than ever, duel booting via a single hard drive has always been a clumsy way to do it.

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