this post was submitted on 12 Oct 2026
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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There are users that still swear by cron, but on modern systems a systemd timer is generally advised.
They don't even know cron exists and you're going to throw them to the wolves by suggesting Systemd? That's like calling in a drone strike to swat a mosquito.
I have a modern system without built-in mission creep.
If systemd is running, as it is on the great majority of distributions, then cron is running on top of it, as just another service. It’s not an either-or situation.
It's not. But the systemd timer has more robust logging and monitoring, and much more explicit and readable syntax.
Once you get used to systemd timers, it's really hard to see why you wouldn't use them if your system has systemd. Unless writing crontabs by hand makes you feel like a hacker I guess. I'm not even being totally sarcastic about that - there is a fun retro feel to cron.
I generally like their outcome, but hate the boilerplate. I think I need somewhere around 20 lines over two different files which would otherwise be a one-liner in a cron file.
Yeah. Once you spend an afternoon debugging a failing
cronjob, the 5 minutes needed to write the boilerplate starts to feel pretty ok though.I've never had to spend an afternoon debugging a failing systemd timer in the years since I made the switch.