On 09.10.14 14:56, Peter Ross wrote:
The init scripts are grown in nearly half a century and are well-thought through.
For a change to systemd to be merited, it must bring benefits¹. In comparison, my understanding is that ubuntu's switch to upstart is mandated on the new ability to handle events. Since sysv init was never designed to handle them, it may have been easier to start again. And half a century of experience _may_ have shown a better way. As long-term users, we're not happy about being pushed to deal with anything new, unless we can see the benefits. With upstart, the old user interface still works, supported by a compatibility interface. And after we oldies drop off the perch, it won't matter. OK, with systemd, a couple of commands are oddly verbose, e.g. # systemctl list-units --type=target which is an arcanely encrypted way to query the current runlevel, but as the "runlevel" command still works, the underlying guff becomes irrelevant, so long as it does the job. Now, I'm quite vague on what systemd's benefits are supposed to be, but the first place I looked:¹ https://www.linux.com/learn/tutorials/524577-here-we-go-again-another-linux-... seemed to burble encouragingly about faster boost, and elimination of the hassle of ensuring correct service start order. It wasn't at all clear on how systemd compares with upstart on handling events, e.g. hotplugging, but I guess we'll figure it out once that bus pulls up at our stop, and we have to decide whether to get on. Since most of my hosts run ubuntu, I've been gobbled up by upstart, and hardly noticed. The debian laptop doesn't have systemd, I can't directly check whether it still uses text files for any config which systemd might need. (It can only be accepted as *nix-compatible if it does) But here: http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/systemd/ we read "systemd is a system and service manager for Linux, compatible with SysV and LSB init scripts." Ah, there are caveats: http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/systemd/Incompatibilities/ But here: http://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/ it seems that any config files are plain text, even the scarily named binfmt files. So, what is all the kerfuffle about? The fact that not all new runlevels correspond with one of the old? Erik -- Habit is habit, and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed down-stairs a step at a time. - Mark Twain, "Pudd'nhead Wilson's Calendar