Parallelize Linux system services to improve boot speed

This article shows you how to improve the boot speed of your Linux system without compromising usability. Essentially, the technique involves understanding system services and their dependencies, and having them start up in parallel, rather than sequentially, when possible.
Although undoubtedly an excellent system, a common criticism of Linux -- voiced particularly by those from a Microsoft Windows background -- is that it takes a long time between pressing the "on" button and actually being able to use a Linux system. In essence, their argument goes, Linux takes a long time to boot.

Although simple to understand, the technique I present here for speeding the boot process requires careful implementation; my hope is that Linux distributions will adopt this technique and users will be spared the configuration task. But if you're feeling adventurous, read on.