post from 2025
systemd is a relatively new utility that provides an array of components for Linux systems.
what
Snideness aside, systemd timers can be pretty neat. They also have some features like being able to specify “Daily” and setting some looseness in when it triggers if you e.g. have a fleet of machines and don’t want them all to do something at exactly the same time.
To be fair, it is relatively new. Cron will be 50 this year which blows my fucking mind.
I like this post! It’s an easy, informative read. Nice to see some useful info about systemd for once, instead of simple “systemd bad”
How are systemd timers not a solution looking for a problem?
Explain?
Cron already exists and is established as the solution in this space. It’s also used as the model for a lot of other timer services outside the Linux kernel.
cron is quite inadequate for condition based scheduling. Instead of million obscure ways to achieve this inside the command that cron executes, systemd timers give us a standard ONE way to do things.
I feel like systemd timers follow unix philosophy better than cron at this day and age.