I think the default is on for accessibility purposes. Imagine a blind/short-sighted person waiting for the system to boot-up; the sound you can hear is helpful to tell them to log in. This is even more important in a public place, since you don't know who your users are.
Other systems such as Windows and Mac OS X have sounds too, as far as I remember. Ideally, a good solution would be to lower down your speakers volume :-D. Cheers, -- Matteo Settenvini FSF Associated Member Email : mat...@member.fsf.org -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK----- Version: 3.12 GCS/E d--(-) s+: a- C+++ UL+++ P+ L++++>$ E++>+++ W+++ N+ o? w--- O M- V- PS++ PE- Y+>++ PGP+++ t++ 5 X- R+ !tv b+++ DI++ D++ G++ e++ h+ r++ y+ ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------
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