Ive been runing Debian 12 (kde) since bookworm was released and am loving it.
I have recently discovered Devuan which seems to be Debian without systemd - what is the benefit of removing this init system?
this post was submitted on 27 Aug 2023
157 points (97.0% liked)
Linux
48130 readers
431 users here now
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
Rules
- Posts must be relevant to operating systems running the Linux kernel. GNU/Linux or otherwise.
- No misinformation
- No NSFW content
- No hate speech, bigotry, etc
Related Communities
Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0
founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
I am not trying to convince you: Use whatever you want.I am trying to explain it, so that people can have a more informed discussion. The web is full of either systemd is the best since sliced bread and systems is horrible. It is neither: It is just a technical system that made technical choices that make certain things easier or even possible and others harder or even impossible.
The sytemd time thingy is actually more minimal than openntpd: It only supports sNTP and not the full NTP protocol and is a client only... Openntpd is a full NTP implementation with both client and server. It also is a great technical choice, so keep using it, especially when you need an NTP daemon.
You behemoth is my plumbing layer:-)
I like the ton of small and simple tools that systems brings along: systemd-nspawn is a really lightweight way to run containers that works basically everywhere, no need to install docker or podman. Disk resizing, sysusers, tmpfiles, boot, Key Management, homed, etc. enables me to build reliable, immutable images for my systems. There is no tooling whatsoever for this outside the systems umbrella.
If you do not try to build a 1980-style UNIX system, then you basically are stuck with systemd. Nobody else is even thinking about how to move forward. If you try to raise the challenges you see outside systemd, you get laughed at and are told that your usecase is obviously stupid. The limitations admins ran into 1980 are gospel now and you may not question any of that.
Fair play, as you say it is a "love it or hate it" affair. I personally really like the simplicity and stability of old school UNIX.
OpenBSD comes to mind as the closest thing in contemporary times and I would use it as a daily driver but I need Linux for a few bits.
Void to me seems like the Linux equivalent. Minimal, stable, no bullshit. Alpine also fits this criteria but is a bit more sparse in some packages that I use. Both great distros.
Systemd is 1.5+ million lines of code! However convenient, it felt forced by Redhat into the Linux world and many of us who do not like it feel bent over backwards to be fucked in the arse by Poettering et al.
As solely an init system, may I suggest a superior alternative, s6?
(I am in hospital on morphine so I may not be making sense).