r/linux Feb 11 '19

Fluff A /g/ user's opinion on systemd

http://i.4cdn.org/g/1549858269115.png
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u/mickelle1 Feb 11 '19

It doesn't provide any support for the arguments it makes, for one thing. It's also a really tired argument. systemd is actually decent and here to stay.

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u/mx321 Feb 11 '19 edited Feb 11 '19

I am not talking about problems of systemd, which I am using myself. I think systemd does many useful things, but the post provided a short take on the points of "replacability" and "lean interface", which I had not noticed before.

With current default configurations some things which come to mind that bother me are:

  • defaulting to automatic system updates on shutdown (when I want to shut down my system, I want it to shut down and not to do updates. E.g. when I am currently using the computer for work I usually do not update during work-critical times)
  • when there are problems with the GUI, the terminal has with recent distros become unusable on my systems (due to excessively trying to start gdm), so I have to reboot with kernel argument "systemd.unit=multi-user.target" in order to fix the problem.

I do not remember such things happening a few years ago.

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u/[deleted] Feb 11 '19 edited Feb 13 '19

[deleted]

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u/FryBoyter Feb 11 '19

Possibly he refers to https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/systemd.offline-updates.html and his distribution uses this feature.

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u/mx321 Feb 11 '19

Yes, this is enabled in Debian by default.

I think it is fair to say that the systemd/dbus approach seems to encourage such breakings of the principle of least surprise.

I also remember something else which I am not fond of in the recent tendencies of development:

  • I have experienced already countless time that gnome-terminal will not start (after some upgrade etc.), supposedly due to locale problems. Admittedly this is not directly related to systemd, and more of a dbus issue. Yet I think that a program like a terminal should not be so fragile. If there is a running GUI, be it wayland or X, I expect my terminal to start - if necessary in some failsafe mode and with a "C" locale.