I wrote:
> http://www.scyld.com/products/beowul...are/monte.html

>I think I recall hearing that 2.5 has something functionally similar.

I hate giving vague references like that so I did some searching today.
The Linux 2.5 feature to which I referred is called "Kexec".
http://lwn.net/Articles/15468/
http://216.239.57.100/search?q=cache...ng_en&ie=UTF-8

Although it's apparently geared toward allowing developers to reboot
quickly, it would also provide the "Linux loadlin" functionality
requested. I would use this as part of my network boot system (which
used Two Kernel Monte long ago).

It would also be handy for another need which I share. Ever want to
upgrade the kernel on a machine for which you don't have console
access? It can be a scary thing. With a typical setup, you need to
switch the default kernel to the new one. Then, if it doesn't work,
you'd need someone to get console access and select the old kernel.

(Yes, there are ways to get consoles remotely. You could also do
something tricky like use GRUB to grab a startup menu from another
machine over the network.)

With Kexec, it appears that you could simply load the new kernel and
if it fails, simply reset/power-cycle the machine to restore it.

Gotta try it soon. I'm compiling 2.5.73. Too bad there doesn't
appear to be a Debian package for kexec-tools yet.
http://www.ussg.iu.edu/hypermail/lin...12.0/0121.html

--kyler