Wow, resurrected an old thread of mine.
I've since found that the initial startup on linux can take quite some time. Subsequent loads take less time than the initial. For what reason? I am not entirely sure.
Here is a copy of my "initial" startup script. I suggest running it, and walking away to cook dinner or some such.
Code:
#!/bin/sh
# Set the LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable
###############################################
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=./
echo "Set \$LD_LIBRARY=PATH =" $LD_LIBRARY_PATH
# Startup the world server
###############################################
./world &
sleep 6m
# Wait until the world has successfully started up
# Startup the zone servers
###############################################
./boot8zones &
Seems to work fine for me.