Comment 29 for bug 98955

To tekknokrat. You can try out the attached source package.
This is bootlogd alone, separated from gutsy's sysvinit.
I fixed logging of terminal codes and some other minor issues.
It works for me here (Ubuntu stock kernel, no usplash, no mounting of /var).
You can build and install it with the following commands:

tar xzvf bootlogd_2.86.01.tar.gz # unpack the source
cd bootlogd-2.86.01
debuild -us -uc -b # build the package
cd ..
sudo dpkg -i bootlogd_2.86.01_*.deb # install the package

Please note that I am not an Ubuntu developer and the package is not
official in any way. So it is a good measure to audit it before installing.

In the long run, I agree that we should wait for a boot logging support
in upstart. Doing such things properly may require cooperation with
the rest of the init system.