Hacks 1-9

Some of you might be wondering why this book contains a chapter on booting your computer. If you're a new desktop Linux user, you might think the ideal boot experience should involve only two steps: press the computer's power button, and then log in.

Even experienced Linux users might question why this chapter exists. Talk to any longtime Linux aficionado, and he'll boast that one of the biggest advantages Linux has over that "other" popular x86 desktop operating system is that you almost never have to reboot Linux.

Regardless of what type of user you are, chances are good that you power off and boot your Linux desktop system now and then. So, why not make the experience a little more pleasant by sprucing up your bootloader with a fancy background graphic? One word of warning: if you choose to design your own LILO or GRUB bootloader backgrounds, the process is easy and highly addictive. It could become your next hobby.

And while you're at it, why not add a graphical boot-progress screen to Debian, one of the last of the popular distributions that lacks a boot splash screen with a progress bar?

In addition to teaching you how to accomplish these two tasks, this chapter will also help take you out of the Dark Ages of text-based virtual console screens. Whether you boot to a text login screen or a graphical login screen, there's no excuse for leaving the virtual console screens in archaic 80x20 character text mode. It is especially important to enable frame-buffer consoles if you want to take advantage of even fancier hacks in the following chapters.