Ubuntu Netbook Remix 10.04 To Boot In Under 10 Seconds

Netbook users have grown fonder of Linux recently, following the releases of such netbook-specific operating systems as Ubuntu Netbook Remix 9.04 and the beta of Moblin 2.0. Quick-boot has always been an attraction of Linux, and according to developer Scott James Remnant we’re going to see Linux netbook boot times fall to a mere 10 seconds by Ubuntu 10.04.

At the Ubuntu Developer Summit in Barcelona, Remnant explaine that boot times in Ubuntu 8.10 (65 seconds) dropped to 25 seconds by 9.04. He thinks that by next year’s version 10.04, which is to follow 9.10 (Karmic Koala), the number could be even smaller.

He used the Dell Mini 9 netbook, which comes with Ubuntu pre-installed, to benchmark the OS. Though the Mini 9 was chosen to achieve consistent data, the 10 second goal is in fact for desktop Ubuntu. However, in Remnant’s view, that will allow netbook boot times to be even faster.

“10 [seconds] is a good number, especially for a generic, hardware agnostic, non-stripped down Linux distribution. From that starting point, development teams will be able to customise and tailor Ubuntu for specific hardware—and the OEM team will be able to produce custom Remixes of Ubuntu that boot even faster,” he wrote. “I think it likely that we’ll match Moblin’s 5 [second] benchmark on similar hardware, with a device-tailored Moblin-based remix of Ubuntu.”

It sounds promising. If Netbook Remix 10.04 could boot a netbook in under 10 seconds, I’d certainly be a convert. Who else is with me?

Via ArsTechnica.