boot banner project

[Scott Long]

/dev/null wrote:
> Hello any & all,
>  O.K. I feel I must preface this with an acknowledgment that I *know*
> this is a silly project *because* given the *incredibly* long uptimes
> that FreeBSD is known for. >>But<< for those *few* times when FreeBSDers
> see a boot screen, shouldn't it look really nice? Shouldn't also be able
> to reflect the Administrators tastes and personality? Well, this is the
> premise for my attempting this project. But before I start, I want to
> submit an RFC. So consider this an Request for comments. This is an
> attempt to create a Graphical boot screen that initially has the
> following layout:
> (a fixed width font required to view the layout correctly)
>  --------------------------------------------------------
> |  some                                                  |
> |     sort                                               |
> |        of                                              |
> |    graphic       goes   in   this   area               |
> |--------------------------------------------------------
> |    boot                                                |
> |                                                        |
> |   messages                                             |
> |                                                        |
> |    seen                                                |
> |                                                        |
> |         here                                           |
> |   bla...                                               |
> |          bla...                                        |
> |                 bla...                                 |
> ---------------------------------------------------------
> 
> -Chris


Is it possible to do this without having to switch to an entirely
raster-based console?  Raster consoles (like what SuSE uses) have
been discussed in the past, and the common thinking is that the
loss in reliability and loss in speed is a significant issue to
consider.

Scott