From the man pages:

#: man reboot

DESCRIPTION
Halt notes that the system is being brought down in the file
/var/log/wtmp, and then either tells the kernel to halt, reboot or
poweroff the system.

If halt or reboot is called when the system is not in runlevel 0 or 6,
in other words when it’s running normally, shutdown will be invoked
instead (with the -h or -r flag). For more info see the shutdown(8)
manpage.

The rest of this manpage describes the behaviour in runlevels 0 and 6,
that is when the systems shutdown scripts are being run.


Basicaly, shutdown -h and -r are the 'safe' or 'normal' procedure, reboot is for when the system is for the most part already closed down.

At least that's how I understand it. Since shutdown chages init level before running, it's presumably gonna be more likely leave the entire system in a safe power off state. reboot lets you bypass this behavior if its done in one of the allowed init states.. (runlevels 0 and 6)

Cheers!

Eh?

Simply stated... "reboot" brings the computer to a complete stop, then boots it up again from scratch without actually turning off the power. "shutdown" does the same thing, then turns off the power.

Then why does reboot call shutdown -r when not already in init 0 or 6. Your right about the power states obviously, I just thought there was a hair more to it... No?