“One of the most significant aspects of the power and
flexibility of Linux is the fact that it is a true multi-tasking
operating system, not merely a complex program loader linked with a
single application. This enables embedded Linux applications to
display greater flexibility and responsiveness to a variety of
conditions than the simpler execution environments provided by
traditional, proprietary embedded operating systems.“This white paper begins with overviews of the filesystems used
during the boot process on most embedded Linux systems, the Linux
system startup process, and the relationships between the two.