> This would have to be a collaborative work by different distros
I think there was a misunderstanding between us. I didn't mean anything so complicated.
By "moving that logic to the packaging system", all I meant is that instead of using a script to detect whether your app is being installed on Ubuntu or Fedora or whatever, you should just build and publish separate packages for each distro you wish to support. The logic for selecting the right package for itself is already built into every packaging system, ready for anyone to use.
Hopefully the process of building a dozen packages with each release can be easily automated once it is set up.
Depends on who do you mean by "you". Software vendor can definitely write a script but they have no power over distributions to "move that logic to the packaging system".
This would have to be a collaborative work by different distros but from my casual look it's just not happening as everyone is happy with their own package manager that's "obviously the best".
I do agree on systemd. I didn't like it before I moved to Linux now I see a lot of value that it brings.
This may also be relevant: http://0pointer.net/blog/revisiting-how-we-put-together-linu...