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Fast-Booting OS for Usually-Off Appliance PCs?

Posted by timothy on from the zero-to-sixty-in-zilch-dot-two dept.

An anonymous reader writes "I have some older computer equipment at work that I want to re-purpose as application appliances. The machines will sit, unpowered, until needed, then powered up. No way around the 'sitting powered off' — company directive. What is the quickest-booting OS I could use for them? I know about LinuxBIOS, but that would require new hardware, which does not go along which the re-purposing theme. Some of them do not need to be connected to a network, so an old version of Linux or Windows 98 are possible. DOS is too old to consider. So what are my options?"

12 of 523 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Who needs an os? by springbox · · Score: 5, Funny

    Embed PERL in firmware! :-)

    I think you misspelled EMACS

  2. Re:What will they be used for? by vivek7006 · · Score: 4, Funny

    What is their purpose?

    Their purpose is to run a fast booting OS

  3. Re:Fast boot by Mipsalawishus · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's a heck of alot faster than DialUp Linux.

  4. Re:Who needs an os? by tinkertim · · Score: 5, Funny

    Embed PERL in firmware! :-)

    I think you misspelled EMACS

    Hmm, nope:

    (P)erfect (E)macs (R)e-writing (L)anguage

    He got it right.

  5. Re:Splashtop by hailukah · · Score: 5, Funny

    And a newish VIA mini-ITX board costs how much?

    Look, it seems most people here would just like to see the guy get a new computer, so why not chip in and send him a crisp twenty.

    --
    "What if I got hit by lightning while walking with an umbrella? Ban umbrellas! Fight the menace of lightning!" Doctorow
  6. Re:BeOS by moosesocks · · Score: 4, Funny

    Unfortunately, Apple didn't go with Be and we'll never know what could have been.

    Multiple threads of slashdotters nostalgically longing for the days of NeXTStep to return?

    --
    -- If you try to fail and succeed, which have you done? - Uli's moose
  7. Re:What will they be used for? by plover · · Score: 5, Funny

    Porn more than likely.

    Since he said this is for company computers, you'd think that for porn "fast power-off times" would be more important than "fast boot times". But that doesn't seem like as much of a challenge now, does it?

    --
    John
  8. Re:What will they be used for? by T3Tech · · Score: 5, Funny

    African or European?

    --
    Of course I didn't RTFA... why would I do that? You really are new here aren't you? Don't let my UID fool you.
  9. Re:Who needs an os? by R.D.Olivaw · · Score: 4, Funny

    I think you misspelled EMACS

    Yes, a great choice but do you know any good text editor that would run on it?

  10. Re:Who needs an os? by weirdcrashingnoises · · Score: 4, Funny

    maybe try to WINE notepad?

    --
    sigs... don't talk to me about sigs....
  11. Re:What will they be used for? by Savage-Rabbit · · Score: 5, Funny

    ....you'd think that for porn "fast power-off times" would be more important than "fast boot times".

    That and replacing the CD drive with a tissue dispenser.

    --
    Only to idiots, are orders laws.
    -- Henning von Tresckow
  12. Re:Linux + hibernate by apparently · · Score: 4, Funny
    . This is as bad as when my youngest would say he wanted a video game and when I asked which one he would say "It had a guy in it. Oh,and magic!".

    You've gotta admit though, that game sounds awesome.