in netbsd yes there is, but the boot process is handled differently than in linux. linux uses the system V boot procedure (yes?). netbsd has single user mode and then different levels, 0 is insecure mode , 1 is secure mode , 2 is highly secure mode and so on. comparing the man file for init on SuSE linux and netbsd, they are pretty different, again, the boot process is handled differently. if you have access to a *bsd machine you should defenitly take a look at the man pages for init, it is very interesting (to me at least) to read both how a system V and a bsd init work. im sure however that someone else on the forum can give a much better explanation of the different boot concepts better than i can, i actually am looking forward to reading one of their posts on this subject if they get to it (hopefully!).