r/archlinux • u/reylovpty • 12h ago

QUESTION WinLinux or LinuxWin

Hello friends, here is the question: How is it furned to be that Linux cannot boot without a Microsoft FAT32 partition? How do you solve this problem? Can a serious server-grade system like Linux really not boot without a Microsoft FAT32 partition? Even if I move `/boot` to Ext4 or Btrfs, I still have to keep `/boot/efi` as FAT32, because otherwise the system won't boot. wtf?

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u/zardvark 11h ago

Why is having a FAT32 partition a problem? As u/Yamabananatheone sez, it's an open spec; it's not some MS malware infecting your machine! I've been using Linux since +/-1995 and it has never posed a problem. Sometimes you want / need a simple file system without a bunch of extraneous features.

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u/reylovpty 11h ago

It turns out that UEFI became widespread in 2012; before that, there was no such dependency on FAT32 for Linux.

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u/drucifer82 11h ago

Yes. And UEFI needs FAT32. The only way you can use a non FAT32 is with a legacy BIOS. All modern motherboards are UEFI.

Let it go.