systemd [NOT?] (was Re: Void Linux tips)

[Steve Litt]

On Thu, 22 Oct 2015 13:45:09 -0700
Brian Cluff <brian at snaptek.com> wrote:

[snip Brian's ideas on systemd and its critics]


> Linux needs more distros to agree on things, not distros that do
> things different.

Brian's sentence above is a statement of belief that encapsulates the
crux of the two years plus heated discussion about systemd. I call it a
belief because it's neither proven nor refuted by Newtonian Physics,
Relativity, Mathematical Law, etc.

A person completely adopting this belief can follow it to one of two
logical conclusions (I'm skipping fairly obvious logical steps here):

1) Everybody should use systemd
2) Nobody should use systemd

This is an explanation for the phenomenon in which person A says "I
run without systemd" and person B replies, explaining why doing so is
wrong. If one wants a unified GNU/Linux with systemd, alternate init
systems, and sans-systemd distros are a threat to unified GNU/Linux.

It can also explain why some anti-systemd people go completely
ballistic about systemd: Perhaps they believe in a unified GNU/Linux
where nobody uses systemd. However, this paragraph is complicated by
the fact that many people still believe that all their alternatives to
systemd have been removed.

Just for the record, my belief is that I completely embrace a widely
heterogenous GNU/Linux. I'm glad Slackers have a distro so manual that
its package manager lets them manually handle dependencies. I'm glad
Mint people have a distro so "we do it all for you" that a five year
old can operate it, as long as he/she goes along with the way Mint
works. I have friends who use Unity, and I'm glad it makes them more
productive. I'm glad people who like compiling their own have Gentoo and
Funtoo. I'm glad that I can use ultra-simple Void to do most of my
work, and still run Ubuntu in a VM to handle LyX, which can't be
handled by Void. It's wonderful that I can use simplistic, mechanical,
sans-systemd Void, and give my non-Geek 22 year old triplets Lubuntu. I
like GNU/Linux because I can make it do almost anything, and because of
the wide variety of distros, I can pick the best starting point, without
major dis-assembly or major building up.

Anyway, I can definitely see how differing beliefs on how homo or
heterogeneous GNU/Linux should be would lead to passionate debate.
Brian really encapsulated the entire debate in one sentence.

SteveT

Steve Litt 
October 2015 featured book: Thriving in Tough Times
http://www.troubleshooters.com/thrive