Individual bootsplash for your own system
Splashing Out
© Sebastian Kaulitzki , Fotolia
Users interested in customizing even the smallest detail of their machines will probably want to modify the boot screen. We show you how to carry out this task with openSUSE 11, Ubuntu 8.x, and their derivatives.
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.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Go-Based Botnet Attacking IoT Devices
Using an SSH credential brute-force attack, the Go-based PumaBot is exploiting IoT devices everywhere.
-
Plasma 6.5 Promises Better Memory Optimization
With the stable Plasma 6.4 on the horizon, KDE has a few new tricks up its sleeve for Plasma 6.5.
-
KaOS 2025.05 Officially Qt5 Free
If you're a fan of independent Linux distributions, the team behind KaOS is proud to announce the latest iteration that includes kernel 6.14 and KDE's Plasma 6.3.5.
-
Linux Kernel 6.15 Now Available
The latest Linux kernel is now available with several new features/improvements and the usual bug fixes.
-
Microsoft Makes Surprising WSL Announcement
In a move that might surprise some users, Microsoft has made Windows Subsystem for Linux open source.
-
Red Hat Releases RHEL 10 Early
Red Hat quietly rolled out the official release of RHEL 10.0 a bit early.
-
openSUSE Joins End of 10
openSUSE has decided to not only join the End of 10 movement but it also will no longer support the Deepin Desktop Environment.
-
New Version of Flatpak Released
Flatpak 1.16.1 is now available as the latest, stable version with various improvements.
-
IBM Announces Powerhouse Linux Server
IBM has unleashed a seriously powerful Linux server with the LinuxONE Emperor 5.
-
Plasma Ends LTS Releases
The KDE Plasma development team is doing away with the LTS releases for a good reason.