this post was submitted on 26 Aug 2025
103 points (86.0% liked)
Linux
57752 readers
484 users here now
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
Rules
- Posts must be relevant to operating systems running the Linux kernel. GNU/Linux or otherwise.
- No misinformation
- No NSFW content
- No hate speech, bigotry, etc
Related Communities
Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0
founded 6 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
IMHO systemd tries to go above the requirements of an init system and behave more like an abstraction layer to the OS, in the same way Linux is an abstraction layer to the hardware. Would we be better with a micro kernel, instead of the Linux beast? Maybe, but we do all use it and it is mostly a standard nowadays. Same for systemd. Could it be simpler? Sure! But having a standard abstraction layer at user level for all distros is excellent for an app developer. And, AFAIK, it should be possible, albeit less verified, to disable most features and use alternative implementations.
Totally fair and exactly part of my original disdain. I was happy with SysV and Upstart. But here we are and I’ve got things to do. ;)
I hated repackaging all my software for systemd. lol. We waited as long as we could before eating that pie.