SysVinit initiates processes based on a script saved in /etc/inittab file.
This latest version addresses some significant issues. One of the fixes is for bootlogd, which has been made to read /proc/cmdline. Additionally, an internal line buffer has been introduced to handle r, t, and ^H. These changes have made the software more usable.
Some other minor changes have also been made. The implementation of trivial OWL patches and blocking signals in syslog(), since syslog() is not re-entrant, are among them. Also, some adjustments have been made to compile SysVinit on the Hurd.
Another important change is that inittab entries with both 'S' and other runlevels are now fixed. Moreover, initreq.h has been modified to be more flexible and forwards-compatible. With this update, through /dev/initctl, it's now possible to set environment variables in init that will be inherited by its children.
Some different and useful options have been added, such as -P and -H to shutdown, set INIT_HALT=POWERDOWN, and INIT_HALT=HALT as environment variables. The software can now be accessed through adding "mountpoint" utility.
Lastly, this update includes a slightly better algorithm in killall5.c:pidof() and some patches from fedora-core, such as halt-usage, last -t, sulogin-message, user-console. These changes make the SysVinit software more efficient and practical for users.
Version 2.86: N/A