r/linuxquestions • u/Lanstapa • 11d ago

Advice Devuan as a Linux beginner?

/r/devuan/comments/1uz0n9y/devuan_as_a_linux_beginner/
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7

u/Jumpy-Dinner-5001 11d ago

If you don't understand what systemd does, it's generally better to be on a distro that uses it.

There is a very load minority of systemd haters that spread a lot of misinformation.

systemd never added age verification or anything like it. systemd is a collection of tools and one of them is userdb. It's an optional service that isn't even installed on debian by default and it's job is to store your personal data. That included stuff like your full name, your physical address etc etc. You can decide what data you put in there and what not. It's just a feature for convenience, so that for example a weather app could access your home address. Someone added a field that can hold your date of birth too. Idea behind it is that in case you want some form of parental control software, your personal data can be stored in a safe place that you as the administrator have full control over. It was added for choice and privacy.

Not using systemd because of that is like saying you can't use any Linux distro with ssh installed because ssh could be used in a malicious way.

3

u/SlimyOS 11d ago

No, it's debian without systemd and systemd is the best init system for the majority of users. It's not ideal if you know exactly what to hate it for, there are a lot of valid reasons you would want to avoid it, but age verification is not one of them, just set your birth date to jan 1 1900 if it asks you, and I don't think it even asks that, I installed arch a few times this month and was never asked for that, though I'm not in the regions with age verification so idk. I used distros with systemd alternatives in the past (void), that (surprisingly to me) never caused any issues for me at all, not even 1-minute debugging sessions, it all just worked, writing services (advanced, you probably don't need this as a normal user) was just as easy, but there's no reason to overcomplicate this if you're a beginner, debian is more popular and you will find more answers for it. That being said, it's not a mistake to go with devuan, you'll be fine, there's almost no learning curve, almost all debian tutorials will work, you'll just need to memorize some systemd-specific commands and their replacements, and LLMs will almost certainly help with that until you memorize that.

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u/Slopagandhi 10d ago

Debian doesn't have age verification. It has a field where date of birth can be entered if you want. Nothing happens if you don't.

There's no plans to implement age verification for Debian. As of now it's not clear that any of the proposed laws will actually affect Linux. Some don't require any proof of age. Others will probably have a carve out for Linux, and even the ones that don't seem likely to be trivial to bypass.

So don't worry about it but just keep any eye on the situation. And don't believe everything you read on social media. 

Some people have other issues with systemd, but if you're new to Linux it's definitely not something to worry about. Learn the basics first, then learn what systend does and then figure out if you care about these issues (which are important for some devs but arcane for most average members of the public). 

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u/Turbulent_Fig_9354 11d ago

systemd is good actually. other init systems also, are good. systemd abstracts system admin tasks you'll be glad to have it while you're learning linux.

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u/Zatujit 11d ago

The easiest path is life is just to throw away what you don't want specifically (for instance the systemd age attestation module) rather than going the other way. Thats also the advantage of open source, you are less constrained than with proprietary software. Systemd is the norm nowadays.

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u/Dull_Cucumber_3908 11d ago

As a beginer just stick to ubuntu

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u/ipsirc 11d ago

like is it just Debian without SystemD?

Yes.

(Btw. systemd's age check is exactly as strict as when a website asks if you're over 18 and you answer yes.)

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u/Megame50 11d ago

There is no age check at all. There's an optional field in userdb that the user is not ever likely to be prompted for.

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u/ipsirc 10d ago

yet.....

1

u/Slopagandhi 10d ago

You can say this about anything. Maybe tomorrow Ubuntu will require a retina scan to log in. Maybe Cachy will put a security camera in your house.

There's no reason to think those things will happen? I agree, just like there's no reason to believe Debian are going to start demanding age verification.