Re:Linux distros without systemd
by soraminazuki on Tuesday May 21, 2019 @08:18AM
(#19969431)
I don't believe typical developers use "plain POSIX environments," whatever that's supposed to mean.
I'm not going to discuss the merits of portability or what "typical developers use". I'm questioning the idea that systemd is somehow more portable than its alternatives. That belief can only be rooted in plain ignorance of the actual situation. It has absolutely nothing to do with what typical developers use, and to that end your comment is a pointless derailment.
What I mean is that there are init systems that only require POSIX compliant APIs and as such are portable across systems that implement POSIX, e.g. GNU/Linux, BSD, Solaris, AIX...
systemd requires (in addition to POSIX) Linux APIs and is therefore not particularly portable by any reasonable definition of the word. You can use it if you are running a Linux kernel, and that's it.
Re:Linux distros without systemd
by jhkaghjkga on Wednesday May 29, 2019 @03:13AM
(#20037537)
> What I mean is that there are init systems that only require POSIX compliant APIs
Those are irrelevant as they can't even do basic tasks like shutting down the computer or restarting it. Feel free to find a POSIX API for Linux' reboot syscall.
Some systems also require mounting additional filesystems, again not possible in a world limited to POSIX interfaces.
Sandboxing, SELinux, ...? Not in POSIX.
And so on.
So why should I currently opt for the worse solution? Is the overall design of it promising?
> Honestly Systemd addresses the complexities of a modern system in the simplest fashion but no simpler, and that is the key.
What complexities does it address? I lost track of everything an init system is apparently responsible for.
> It works well overall and end up being more portable and consistent in the long run.
Since systemd only runs on Linux APIs, I can't figure out what this even means. There are init systems that run perfectly fine in plain POSIX environments. systemd is not one of them.