Any computer operating system starts up a number of processes (services, daemons, call them what you will) that are presumed needed to operate. The default installation for any given Linux distribution is much more efficient than other operating systems, but still, it may start up software that you don't use, and thus, startup is slower than it needs to be and perhaps resources will be taken up really should be free.
In Ubuntu or similar systems, running the Gnome desktop, you can see what services are started up with booting, by looking at the "Services" thingie under System -> Administration. Here, you can set which services do and do not start at the time of the bootup.
There are probably some ways you can really screw up your computer by messing with this thing. If you are not using bluetooth, and it is turned on, consider turning it off. Have a look at hdparm. Learn what it is and if it will work for you. A lot of systems have it turned off and it should be on. No, maybe not. hdparm is probably either not anything that will help your machine at all, or something dangerous for you to mess with, or both. If you need it, use it from the command line and make sure you know what you are doing.
Have fun, and don't blame me.
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More details on the issue:
http://www.linux.com/feature/151496
Posted by: Lassi Hippeläinen | November 10, 2008 12:16 PM
Sure wish I was better with computers sometimes. I'm one of those guys that has to follow directions for all of it and I can't usually figure out the problems on my own. I do know a few people who use linux, though, and they think I'm stupid for sticking with windows. Great blog, I'll be back often to see what's on your mind. Sounds like a lot of fun in there!!
Posted by: Tony | November 10, 2008 12:39 PM
There is a reason that Linux runs on 80% of server computers worldwide,its that it is robust,stable and safe.You can have a Linux server run for a year without rebooting....
Recognizing that,a boot-up time of 30 secs isnt all that bad really,and the little finetuning you can do with services etc,really isnt going to change things that much.
Posted by: clinteas | November 11, 2008 1:21 AM
clineas. No kidding! That is a very good point.
And not just bootup. I have a computer at home with which I access imap and pop email accounts and that has 30-40 thousand archived emails. I have a computer at work accessing the same stuff with almost nothing archived. The computer at home is a loaded down Linux system and a fairly fast (single processor) disk. The computer at school is a crappy box that is acting mainly as a thin client on a windows network and it is running windows.
So, everything is working against the school computer, so this is not a fair comparison, but it is dramatic,
Boot up time at home: Less than 30 secnds. Time from clicking on "evolution" (like outlook) startup icon until I can use the software: about one second. Time from the desktop loading until I can freely use any software, open any file, etc, on the deskop (i.e. extra time from bootup to really,really being totally ready to devote all it's CPU cycles to me instead of some other crap): Zero.
At School: Boot up time: One minute pluc. Time to finish virus check, which takes up so much resource stuff that the computer is not usable: 20 minutes. Time for the Outlook client to "sync" with the network, etc.: 20 minutes. If I do both at the same time: Total = about 30 minutes, and sometimes the system crashes.
This is a managed system that is constantly being 'seen to' by the computer people. They do a good job, and this is as good a it gets.
Obviously, I don't turn the computer off, but because of constant security updates and Windows constant need to reboot if you change something, I have to restart it a few times a week anyway.
Posted by: Greg Laden | November 11, 2008 7:25 AM