I have a need to start an application on bootup on the linux console and I do not have a need for any type of login or security. I do not need any ALT-F1,F2,etc virtual consoles but I would like to allow SSH access via the network port for debugging, loading, etc.
The application is a SDL graphics program running with fbcon as the SDL_VIDEODRIVER if that matters. I'm currently using Fedora 10 and 12 but any distro that supports SDL using the fbcon framebuffer would be acceptable.
The "classic" way to do this is to add an entry to /etc/inittab for the program. With upstart the way to do it has changed, but on F12 that file contains further instructions on how to find out how to do it.
Probably best for your application would be to use Arch Linux, which is very lightweight and by-default comes without any graphical interface. It still uses /etc/inittab, as mentioned by another answer, but you can also just write anything to be done on boot time into /etc/rc.local. The spawning of virtual consoles can also easily be deactivated.
Just a mention as you have the "embedded-linux" tag there and it sounds like you only need a minimum installation (in terms of running services).
