[NCLUG] Debian Question

[Sean Reifschneider]

On Thu, Jan 03, 2008 at 05:42:40PM -0700, David Braley wrote:
> Linux getting so Huge? And why does it take so damn long to boot up? Is it 

As more functionality is added and people expect more from their systems it
can require more code running to meet their needs.  For example, if you
think your system gets into X fast, convert over to runlevel 3 and boot --
even faster.  What do you need X windows for, you have screen and multiple
virtual consoles...

My feeling is that people are willing to trade off more functionality for
more boot time, especially if you're only booting once a week or maybe even
less often.  Sure, I could gain a second in my boot time by disabling
Postgres, for example, but I use it...  Ditto for a firewall, which Debian
is willing to not call a part of a base system, but I am not.

If you want a system that "just works", you're going to need it to be
running stuff that you might want, because otherwise you'll have to fiddle
to get it running.

In the normal case, my system boots faster than your system fires up grub.
>From being off to having all my applications running and ready for me to us
takes around 2 seconds.  If you're impatient, as you said, you need to
learn about suspend.  So I don't care about the once a week boot taking 2
minutes when the boot I do several times a day takes 2 seconds...

That's one viewpoint on why Linux is getting so huge.

Sean
-- 
 Windows NT: From the people who brought you 640K and EDLIN
Sean Reifschneider, Member of Technical Staff <jafo at tummy.com>
tummy.com, ltd. - Linux Consulting since 1995: Ask me about High Availability
      Back off man. I'm a scientist.   http://HackingSociety.org/