This article discusses detailed similarities and differences between booting Linux on an x86-based platform (typically a PC-compatible SBC) and a custom embedded platform based around PowerPC, ARM, and others. It discusses suggested hardware and software designs and highlights the tradeoffs of each. It also describes important design pitfalls and best practices.
Anatomy of the Linux boot process
About The Author
Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
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No mention of early user space, initramfs, guess they never used cramfs since it assumes all initial ram disks are writable. stop.
Wow!
Only one comment and nobody responding. I guess I have to leave one just so he won’t have all the glory.
the reason for that is that this is more geek then anything else i have seen posted on osnews. nobody cares about how the os or bios boots as long as it does so (preferably presenting a fullscreen, nice-looking splash screen rather then usefull info if i read the trends correctly).
basicly people want push button appliances…
and given that the computer of the future will be like a stereo rack where everything comes preinstalled as modules. want to play games? insert a gameing module and insert games into that. want to do office and web? insert the desktop module. everything hooked into the mother unit (similar to how everything is hooked into the amp on a stereo) and presto…
nobody cares about how the os or bios boots as long as it does so
Wrong. Plain and simple wrong. The reason noone has commented on it is because the usual people who like to argue about things don’t know enough about this to even make an argument seem valid. The reason for this is because those people who argue over petty things aren’t intelligent enough to have furthered their education to the point where they would know this information. The majority of posts on OSNews are, sadly, such petty arguments.
Me, I’m very interested in this. I found the article to be a very good read. I suggest that others read it too, if only to help solve the problem of ignorance that seems to be plaguing today’s computing world.
The reason for this is because those people who argue over petty things aren’t intelligent enough to have furthered their education to the point where they would know this information.
That’s one theory. A more likely scenario is that this is not a controversial article in any way, so there’s no real opportunity for a debate or flamewar (though you did make a commendable attempt 😉
Personally, I found the article interesting, as it helps to understand the boot process. It is pretty geeky, but it’s clearly written and I did not find it that arcane.
Because there are plenty of people who would like to make the BIOS less open, for motives you may find uncomfortable.