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BSDCon 2002 Abstract

SystemStarter and the Mac OS X Startup Process

Wilfredo Sánchez, wsanchez@mit.edu and Kevin Van Vechten, kevinvv@uclink4.berkeley.edu

Abstract

This paper documents a program in Mac OS X called SystemStarter. SystemStarter brings the system from its initial state up to a state where basic services are running and a user may log in. It replaces the previous /etc/rc startup sequence employed by Mac OS X's predecessors in order to address some additional goals set forth by the Mac OS X project.

SystemStarter is part of the BSD subsystem in Mac OS X, now known as Darwin, though it's creation predates Darwin as an open source project; it was therefore created by a single author, though it now enjoys several contributors.

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Last changed: 28 Dec. 2001 ml
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