Dr. Nikolaus Klepp composed on 2022-12-17 08:25 (UTC+0100):
It's just "eye candy" - well, I don't see the point to hide 3 seconds of kernel boot messages.
I don't think it was so much a need to hide messages as some bored programmer's decision that the widely reported slight screen flicker that may occur during screen mode switches appearing between Grub and the final resolution/mode engagement for X was a problem in need of eradication. It's bloatware.
# zypper in --recommends plymouth Loading repository data... Reading installed packages... Resolving package dependencies...
The following package is recommended, but will not be installed due to conflicts or dependency issues: plymouth-lang
The following 12 NEW packages are going to be installed: libply-boot-client5 libply-splash-core5 libply-splash-graphics5 libply5 plymouth plymouth-branding-openSUSE plymouth-dracut plymouth-plugin-label plymouth-plugin-two-step plymouth-scripts plymouth-theme-bgrt plymouth-theme-spinner
12 new packages to install. Overall download size: 841.8 KiB. Already cached: 0 B. After the operation, additional 911.0 KiB will be used. Continue? [y/n/v/...? shows all options] (y): n