systemd cat and GNU cat hugging a Linux cat.
Why should I not use systemd?
Contrarianism
Perfectly legitimate reason to do/ not do anything
/s
I disagree.
because the over 70 different binaries of systemd are “not modular” because they are designed to work together. What makes a monolith is, apparently, the name of the overarching project, not it being a single binary (which again, it’s not)
If I cared about modularity I’d use something like Hurd, but i actually need to get shit done
What makes it a monolith is that the 70 binaries refuse to do their one job (see: Unix philosophy) independently.
A few months ago, a systemd update broke my boot process because I dared set up my device-mapper nodes manually in a minimal initrd without having a second copy of systemd in there as well. The device is there, yet systemd times out “waiting for device”. How come then a manual mount -a in the rescue shell works then?
If course, the bug had already been reported and swiftly rejected by L. “Hurr durr bother your distributor not me” Pottering.
When you’re not using your computer
What a wild concept
If you have to ask, then there’s no reason not to. It’s people who tinker with their systems that encounter issues with it, or more often random annoyances that add up over tme to those memes.
Void, because it works really well on my super low-resource chromebook!
As a user, why should I care whether the distro I use uses systemd? I use Mint and I don’t remember having to interact with that kind of low-level nonsense. The distro maintainers can use whatever reasoning they want to pick these details.
Tribalism exists in every circle, perhaps moreso in tech circles. Ironically anyone who hates on a distro could just switch, or build their own distro if they were so inclined, but it’s often the hating that people participate more in than using their system. Use what works for you, and if it no longer works for you use something else.
If you are just a user, in that a computer is just a tool you use, then you’re right, there’s comparatively little reason to be concerened or even know about the underlying details of the system. If you go further and start making changes to your system, or even building more complex systems, over time you will find yourself forming quite firm opinions about various parts of the underlying system, especially if you’ve had experience with other options.
As a user, why should I care whether the distro I use uses systemd?
Um, because as a user you may have to deal with services, or other systemd features?
Let’s say you want to start
ssh-agentwhen you login to your desktop environment. Well, there’s a systemd service for that that you can enable, and on another distro you’d have to do it another way (autostart script or something).
So the old init.d system was better? Come on people, let’s stop infighting. I have zero preference on init systems. You know why? Because they’re just plumbing. Stop this nonsense. Do I click on an init system? Do I use the init system to check my email? Or play games? No. I know poettering can be controversial, but let’s just move on. Run freebsd if you’re so butt hurt.
Yeah, on a desktop I don’t really mind whatever*. On a server however, I think systemd is great and I wouldn’t want to miss it anymore.
* except Debian’s frankenstein systemd + sysvinit combination. Burn it
So much more than an init system though, which I think is why people don’t like it. Personally, the only annoyance I have is I preferred log files over journald.
Its becoming an behemoth and has security disadvantages in theory
Curiously, the cream of the crop in terms of security-focused Linux (i.e. Kicksecure and secureblue) leverage systemd to their benefit.
It is much more secure since it supports proper sandboxing and least privilege
So the old init.d system was better?
because those are our only two options…
I hate this argument so much, because it’s just a fallacy.
There are (and have been) more solid init systems.
Probably Artix, because it’s like Arch, and I use Arch btw
Scans room
Windows 11.
Chaotic neutral
Init is just that bad. /s
Alpine.
Have used crux but using low end / old hardware results in almost permanent building software.
I wonder how far we are from CI drivers ala Nix that fork builds out to idle hardware like a distributed torrent network. As someone with three out of tree modules in use, there must be dozens of us I’d like to think.
That is something I’ve already run into at my previous workplace. The name escapes me atm…
An hour in and no mention of Slackware yet?
No, but I use Arch btw.
or Artix btw, if we’re in the non-Systemd world
+1 for slackware. rock solid distro.
Since you asked for OS and not Linux: OpenBSD and FreeBSD are beautiful systems w/o systemd. I would switch in a heartbeat if I wouldn’t need Linux for work reasons.
This feels like an “I would switch to Linux if I didn’t need Windows for work” comment from another universe.
Fair point. :-)
At the end of the day, the OS has to run the software/applications one needs to get shit done… if it is macOS or Windows, that’s okay.
In my defense, I ran NetBSD for several years a long time back, and it was one of the best OS experiences I ever had. I am just old/pragmatic/flexible enough, to choose setups with less friction, if possible. ;-)
Still, I think it is a shame that Linux mostly took over the UNIX world and the BDS are left for hardcore nerds/embedding/game consoles and Solaris and co are not viable options anymore. Portable software and its stability benefited a lot from bugs detected on other platforms (OpenBSD was always a forerunner here).
BSD is to Linux users what Linux is to Windows users.
Not sure what you want to express. I actually used BSD a long time back, and the quality/documentation/coherence/beauty of the system are/were just on another level… Running Debian for nearly a decade now, because of compatibility (with hardware and software I need)… Linux improved a lot in the last nearly 3 decades and I am happy it exists, still I would be more happy if the BSDs would have stayed at least on an equal footing.
I think the comment speaks for itself. There wasn’t anything deep behind it. It literally just mean “Linux users look at BSD users how Windows users look at Linux.” Bewildered, mystified maybe? It’s just lower on the “food chain”, and they are surprised to see people using it because it’s missing “X” feature they can’t live without, for many people that being gaming. I’m in the same camp.
It was not a comment on the quality of the software, as I have never used it. I would love to tinker with it one day to see the differences, but I can’t see myself ever switching to it, even if I admire/envy some of the better parts compared to Linux.
Thanks for clarification!
… and I think you are point on, by now, the ship has sailed. I could use FreeBSD/OpenBSD on servers, but I’d rather run Debian everywhere. On desktops and for day to day usage, the BSDs are no viable options anymore, they simply lack support for common hardware (Wifi etc.) alone and the BSDs will realistically never be able to catch up the chasm anymore.
I feel there’s a similar relation between Mac :: Ubuntu (me) :: Arch.
I try to explain to folks that I have very little interest in anything outside of /home. I truly use Ubuntu because I like the desktop and Steam works and I have all the dev tools I need. But a certain type of otherwise competent Mac-using developer thinks I must be a 1337 h4x0r to even dare to use Linux for actual work.
Any “hate” in regards to you using Ubuntu is more likely to do with controversy involving Canonical than it is you using a beginner-friendly distro. People are more likely to be kinder to the Mint user.
Fediverse has its own baseline.
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I’m the same here. I don’t know enough or care to know enough about systemd. I simply enjoy the minimalism of Alpine.
The downside is that I have to learn a bit more to make it work how I want but as a hobby I enjoy it.
When I first started with linux, Mint with systemd just worked for my laptop. For the people who are less computer literate, that should be good enough. They don’t want to worry about how to make their computer work, they just wanna do basic computer things without hassle.
I suppose that would be Android, since that’s the only non systemd OS I use.
Same here. Has to be degoogled though.
I used to use AOSP without google apps. But I’m a bit less strict now, after I bricked a phone because I fucked up.
I don’t care about the init system, however i do love void mainly because of the package manager.
System service managers like systemd, OpenRC, runit, or SysVinit often come down to user preference. While these systems are crucial for initializing and managing services on servers, where uptime, resource allocation, and specific daemon behaviors are important, their impact on a typical desktop or laptop is generally minimal.
For most personal devices, the primary functions of a service manager occur largely out of sight. As long as the system boots reliably and applications run smoothly, the underlying service manager rarely registers as a significant factor in the daily user experience.
For many, including myself, systemd simply works without much fuss. My choice to stick with it isn’t due to strong conviction or deep technical analysis, but rather the simple fact that I’ve rarely, if ever, had to interact with it directly. For my personal desktop and laptop, it reliably handles booting, service management, and shutdown in the background. If it’s not broken and isn’t hindering my daily computing, there’s no compelling reason to explore alternatives.
System service managers like systemd, OpenRC, runit, or SysVinit often come down to user preference.
And coding best-practice. And a philosophy borne of bad luck and bad software that aims to resist monoculture.
But that lennart kid is cool for a Microsoft employee.
Systemd is much faster than other systems on multicore CPUs.
Gentoo with OpenRC
This is the shit.
Gentoo is the best distro, can’t imagine going back to binary blobs.
And it’s so stable and easy to use.
It needs a solid CPU to update, that’s a downside, but for me it’s absolutely worth it.
Yeah. I use it with systemd, but I don’t want to miss /etc/portage/patches for example. It’s so nice.
