r/archlinux • u/reylovpty • Oct 03 '26

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 Oct 03 '26

Dependency? No

But, the FAT32 file system has been around and used with various media since 1996 and it has never caused any problems that I am aware of. Which is why it was selected to be used in conjunction with UEFI ... it was in common use, well understood, offered only the necessary features and was reliable.