this post was submitted on 06 May 2026
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I know I'm not the only one that said this but I really can't stand how systemd is becoming "the norm" init system for every major distro, this is bad.

it is especially bad when certain apps are built specifically for systemd, locking users behind a specific init system and compatibility issues spark because you don't use a mainstream one , this doesn't go with the idea of Linux, which is having "freedom" with your os, picking and choosing what goes on and off while still being usable.

I switched to artix Linux with openRC a while ago the moment systemd added code for potential age verification, they called it malicious compliance but I really didn't like the smell of that, now I'm fighting tooth and nail with some applications because they're systemd dependent, resulting in me creating custom scripts to mitigate their issues.

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[–] lavember@programming.dev 1 points 15 hours ago

That is less of a hard-dependency on bash than bash being the default bourne shell for most systems, lots of programs depend on /bin/sh, which can be configured to be any bourne-compatible shell.

Linux being monolithic doesn't warrant other parts of the system to be also be. Linux also has very a relatively stable ABI which allows for decoupling and you already see some projects like Asterinas leverage it to build an alternative kernel that is still compatible with Linux userspace stuff.

Having a direction is not mutually exclusive to having a decoupled system. One of the core aspects for engineering systems is being as decoupled as possible. If you think the only 'decoupling' Linux has is desktop environments and higher-level stuff, I cannot truly believe you have tried to tweak your system very much, and that's perfectly fine, just don't assume that everything has to be tightly-coupled just because you don't see a point yourself.

I say this having already used and daily-driven systemd alternatives for years, namely Artix with runit and dinit, and they are perfectly capable and faster, boot times were way faster. Sometimes I've had to write manually some service files, but it was fine. Choice is good, it's frustrating seeing people actively speak against it when it is possible to have it without sacrificing usability.