Edit: Unfortunately, the images originally included in this post are gone, because of hosting problems in late 2009. My apologies.
Here’s something I haven’t thought to keep as a record: a bootchart for a default Ubuntu Hardy installation on the ugly little laptop.
This is the full Gnome setup, replete with all the features and doo-dads available to a default Ubuntu installation … running at a whopping 450Mhz. The only non-default setting is the lack of a login prompt.
The boot time, as you can see, doesn’t approach the Debian Gnome desktop on the same machine, so No, Mars, it’s not the hard drive that was giving me that astounding 1:43 boot time.
Of course, that number was measured by Timex, not by bootchart, so as soon as I finish tinkering with this setup, it’s going to be blanked and replaced with another Debian Gnome setup, for a true comparison.