From owner-freebsd-current@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Apr 27 19:03:10 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-current@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 90FDF16A4CE for ; Wed, 27 Apr 2005 19:03:10 +0000 (GMT) Received: from basement.kutulu.org (211.215.33.65.cfl.res.rr.com [65.33.215.211]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 081B543D1F for ; Wed, 27 Apr 2005 19:03:10 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from kutulu@kutulu.org) Received: from [127.0.0.1] (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by basement.kutulu.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 8FBF539 for ; Wed, 27 Apr 2005 15:03:08 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <426FE1EA.7020900@kutulu.org> Date: Wed, 27 Apr 2005 15:03:06 -0400 From: Mike Edenfield User-Agent: Mozilla Thunderbird 0.9 (Windows/20041103) X-Accept-Language: en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: freebsd-current@freebsd.org References: <57436.216.177.243.42.1114582155.localmail@webmail.dnswatch.com> <426FDE69.8090909@samsco.org> In-Reply-To: <426FDE69.8090909@samsco.org> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Subject: Re: boot banner project X-BeenThere: freebsd-current@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list List-Id: Discussions about the use of FreeBSD-current List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 27 Apr 2005 19:03:10 -0000 Scott Long wrote: > Is it possible to do this without having to switch to an entirely > raster-based console? Raster consoles (like what SuSE uses) have > been discussed in the past, and the common thinking is that the > loss in reliability and loss in speed is a significant issue to > consider. One possible alternative to an all-out graphics display would be a 'prettified' text console. I'm thinking of what Gentoo and older RedHat systems did (haven't used RH in years, dunno if this still applies) where about 80% of the system log messages are hidden behind a simple task list: Mounting File Systems ... [ok] Starting xl0 ... [ok] etc. With, of course, the obligatory cyan, magenta, and bright green colors. While partly eye candy, I find it much easier to deal with than the free-form scrolling you currently get on FreeBSD. There's definitely a different boot-message requirement between a headless server, headed (?) server, novice user desktop, advanced user desktop, etc. Currently FreeBSD only gives you three options: Static Graphic, Verbose Messages, or *REALLY* Verbose Messages. My only concern is that the console output, if I have any clue what I'm talking about, are not centralized anywhere that could be easily modified based on a setting. Is this correct? --Mike