[P1] Booting a Computer

[Gary D. Adams]

Historical note: this term derives from `bootstrap loader', a short
program that was read in from cards or paper tape, or toggled in
from the front panel switches. This program was always very short
(great efforts were expended on making it short in order to minimize
the labor and chance of error involved in toggling it in), but was
just smart enough to read in a slightly more complex program
(usually from a card or paper tape reader), to which it handed
control; this program in turn was smart enough to read the
application or operating system from a magnetic tape drive or disk
drive. Thus, in successive steps, the computer `pulled itself up by
its bootstraps' to a useful operating state. Nowadays the bootstrap
is usually found in ROM or EPROM, and reads the first stage in from
a fixed location on the disk, called the `boot block'. When this
program gains control, it is powerful enough to load the actual OS
and hand control over to it.

It didn't come over "from the dark side." It was the only side back 
then--there were no personal computers.

;-)

Gary

Jack Rodgers wrote:
> 
>  
> If you want to get real technical, you don't boot a Mac, you start or 
> restart a Mac. Help is still searching for the word boot...
> 
> Boot is one of those hideous words that come over from the darkside, 
> like kill instead of delete.
> 
> Apple has always used friendly words rather than those antagonistic, 
> warlike phrases from over there.