5-second Linux boots on low-powered hardware

An LWN.net article describes how two Intel engineers got an Asus Eee PC (pictured) to boot to a graphical Linux desktop in five seconds. The boot system is based on modified software loads from Fedora and Moblin, says the article. The five-second boot of a Fedora distribution on the Asus Eee PC netbook -- some nine times faster than a typical Fedora boot -- was demonstrated at the recent Linux Plumbers Conference (LPC) in Portland, Oregon, says the article, written by Don Marti. The system was developed by two Intel developers: Arjan van de Ven, the author of PowerTop Auke Kok, a developer at Intel's Open Source Technology CenterUsing the Bootchart application, which graphs each element of the boot process, the developers were said to have demonstrated why a Fedora boot-up takes 45 seconds (and Ubuntu 43 seconds). Precious... [read full story]