Bootup Time Spec

This is the specification of bootup time technologies and features, of the Bootup Time Working Group of the CE Linux Forum.

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Introduction
The specifications of the Bootup Time Working Group deals with reducing the time required to boot a Linux kernel in a consumer electronics products. The purpose of this specification is to define requested or required features of Linux which improve the bootup time of the system for such products. Also, this specification mentions features which, over the long term, will assist developers in measuring and enhancing the bootup time for their systems.

While suspend, resume, and shutdown times are also within the scope of the Bootup Time Working Group, this version 1.0 of specifications does not include any technology in support of reductions in these areas. Reductions in those areas will be covered in future versions of the specification.

Rationale
Users expect to be able to use their CE products very soon after turning them on. Linux, as configured and used for desktop and server systems, exhibits long bootup times - on the order of 30 seconds to a few minutes. The technologies mentioned here (while small in number, in this first release), represent a few mechanisms which can be used to reduce bootup time.

Terminology
The following table presents terms used in this specification related to bootup time technology and features.

Work In Progress
The following item is currently being worked on, but is not ready for publication yet.