[TriLUG] Linux home directory management is about to undergo major change

[Steve Litt via TriLUG]

On Mon, 4 May 2020 11:38:37 -0400
Brian via TriLUG <trilug at trilug.org> wrote:

> On 5/1/20 9:27 PM, Steve Litt via TriLUG wrote:
> > Systemd is the first piece of system software to
> > actually sabotage other software.  
> 
> Steve,
> I'm eager to know more about the down-sides to systemd that go beyond
> my knee-jerk "it's different from what I'm used to."  Could you
> elaborate on "sabotage other software"?

Hi Brian,

It's 3am, so I'll give you a quick and dirty and perhaps not 100%
accurate reply now, and elaborate/correct later.

I'll start by saying this: If a computer currently has any non-systemd
init system, it's almost trivial to replace it with another init
system. This is not the case if systemd is the current "init system".

* I'm pretty sure the systemd crowd took over and changed logind to the
  point where it would need to be called quite differently to run with
  a normal init.

* The systemd crowd took over udev such that all calls must be vastly
  changed to run with a normal init system. As a matter of fact, Gentoo
  created eudev and Devuan created vdev just to back out the "my way or
  the highway" udev booby traps.

* Gnome now won't run without systemd. The systemd people claim it's
  not their fault that Gnome put in these dependencies, but as I
  remember I can show you web content in which Poettering brags about
  convincing Gnome to develop a thick interface to systemd.

* This home directories thing will certainly make a mess of anyone
  trying to use an alternate init on a "ships with systemd" machine.

* On the initramfs front, as I remember Redhat took over the Dracut
  initramfs creator project, emptied the git repository, and started
  fresh with a version with thick interfaces to systemd. If you want
  the original, I guess you go to Internet Archive and somehow find the
  old git.

We're all familiar with the Vim/Emacs rivalry. It's a friendly rivalry.
If either of those two softwares tried to make it such that it could
not be replaced by the other, that rivalry wouldn't be so friendly
anymore.

I'll try later to get more information and provide cites to the
preceding assertions. 

SteveT

 
SteveT

Steve Litt 
May 2020 featured book: Troubleshooting Techniques
     of the Successful Technologist
http://www.troubleshooters.com/techniques