Socket activation is entirely optional and is not what I would personally call "magic".
I don't think "pretending that a service is running" is a fair description of what it does however. It's just buffering. It has advantages in some case which is why it exists. It doesn't "kinda suck".
Re:systemd ParticleOS
by ahartmetz on Friday April 11, 2025 @03:33PM
(#43657600)
Entirely optional, but widely used. An advertised advantage is that service A that relies on B can start before or concurrently with B. Calling that "just buffering" is really not accurate.
I don't think "pretending that a service is running" is a fair description of what it does however. It's just buffering. It has advantages in some case which is why it exists. It doesn't "kinda suck".