Splashing Out

Many recent distributions hide the Linux system's start messages behind a colorful image with a progress indicator. The bootsplash [1] has long become the trademark of each distribution – and is a well-known phenomenon in the world of Windows. A customized system needs a fair amount of manual attention.

Thus far, modifying the bootsplash meant manually modifying the kernel [2]. For one thing, you needed to enable support for the framebuffer device with support for at least 16-bit color. For another, it also meant installing a patch from the bootsplash homepage, although the makers of the original bootsplash system refer to more state-of-the-art approaches on their front page.

Several alternative approaches are available to Linux users now: Splashy [3], USplash [4], and Red Hat Graphical Boot. Splashy and USplash run in userspace, which means on a user account. This offers a number of advantages. For one thing, it does not affect system stability if the program code turns out to be buggy. For another, it makes configuration and customization easier.

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