Alien visualization of a Linux boot sequence

Posted by John Brownlee, November 13, 2008 4:17 AM | permalink

The sinuous and diffusing rills of the Linux boot sequence, as visualized by Perry Hung at MIT. Each function is a node, with every edge representing a function call, direct branch or indirect branch. It looks like a fluff of parakeet down, or a bit of crystalized algae in the blackness of subaqueous depths.

Visualization of Linux Boot Sequence [Flickr via MAKE]

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Discussion

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#1 posted by Secret_Life_of_Plants , November 13, 2008 5:19 AM

Looks like one of Casey Reas' computer artworks.

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#2 posted by bardfinn , November 13, 2008 7:11 AM

And God Said, "Let There Be Light", And There Was Light.

-- I always suspected/imagined the analogy.

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#3 posted by Ryan Waddell

, November 13, 2008 11:20 AM

What's that single strand going way off to the top right there?

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#4 posted by musicalwoods , November 13, 2008 11:25 AM

Meet my new laptop background :)

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#5 posted by solitaire , November 13, 2008 3:02 PM

TFA: interrupt processing routines, linux boot, bootloader (from left to right)

so beautiful. love the simple radial int functions, the simple loop of bootloader calls bramching into the mess that is the linux kernel. it seems more chaotic than emergent but i guess it's just one view. i don't think linux has yet to reach a critical mass.

this post brought to you by all the pretty little explosions in your cpu

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#6 posted by tednugnt , November 13, 2008 8:57 PM

the next question is obviously ... windows??? mac os???

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#7 posted by Wirelizard , November 13, 2008 9:31 PM

They tried this with Windows, all they got was a solid blue screen with some white text on it.

(Yes, I'm a Linux user. Does it show?)

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#8 posted by plusminus , November 15, 2008 11:03 AM

@ryan: it's the bootloader :)