One way to speed up the boot in Debian is to replace bash with dash as /bin/sh in the default installation. This was proposed as a release goal for Lenny, but it isn't enabled by default.
Dash as /bin/sh by default
Lenny users:
Install dash
apt-get install dash
- Configure dash as the default shell
dpkg-reconfigure dash
Squeeze users:
- Dash is always installed.
/bin/sh is dash by default (even for upgraded systems).
Bash as /bin/sh by default
If your Lenny or Squeeze system is configured so /bin/sh is dash, you can revert to bash using the command:
dpkg-reconfigure dash
and follow the instructions.
See also
Shells in Debian