A new patch series that was posted this week allow for users to more easily replace the default kernel boot logo. While many of us are long accustomed to seeing the picture of Tux as the kernel boot logo, for those preferring to better customize your console boot experience these patches allow it to be easily manipulated via the kernel configuration “Kconfig” options.
Some already modify the Linux kernel boot logo themselves via patching the source code and Makefile. But a patch series sent out by Vincent Mailhol allow for more easily customizing the boot logo via the kernel configuration. With relying on the boot logo file location via the Kconfig also allows cleaning up some of the code’s logic as well.
The proposed patches add LOGO_LINUX_MONO_FILE for allowing a monochrome boot logo in PBM file format. Or there is also LOGO_LINUX_VGA16_FILE for a 16 color PPM boot logo file or LOGO_LINUX_CLUT224_FILE for a 224 color logo, also in PPM format.
This patch series by Vincent Mailhol provides those new Kconfig options for more easily customizing the kernel’s boot logo. For those wondering why this is a build-time option and not punted out to a run-time/boot option, due to the kernel logo being loaded early in the boot process it would need to be stored either in the initrd or on the file-system. For keeping things simple and not delaying the boot logo, it’s a build-time option.
