Linux: concerns over systemd adoption and Debian's decision to switch [OT]

Fri Oct 24 14:31:36 UTC 2014

On 10/24/2014 03:35 AM, Tei wrote:
> I pled the Linux people to stay inside the unix philosophy to use text files.
>
>
You do realize that the systemd config files are still text, right? As 
to the binary journal, well, by default RHEL 7 (and rebuilds) do at 
least mirror the journal output to syslog, so /var/log/messages and 
friends are still there, in plain text.  I just verified this on my 
CentOS 7 evaluation server; yep, /var/log/messages and friends still 
there and still being used.

As to systemd being a big binary, well, the typical initscript is being 
run by a binary also, even if it is somewhat smaller, and as shellshock 
shows that still has an attack surface.

The systemd config files are much easier to understand than the typical 
initscript (and since the 'functions' most distributions provide are 
directly sourced, you need to include that code as well) is, by a very 
large margin.

I'm not thrilled by this change, but after stepping back and looking 
over all the various systems I've dealt with over the last 25+ years 
it's honestly not as big of a change as some of the things I've seen 
(and my experiences include VMS and a number of Unix variants, including 
Xenix, Irix, SunOS/Solaris, and Domain/OS. And don't get me started on 
the various CLI's for various switch and router vendors, or I'll throw 
some Proteon gear your way.....).  And while I should be able to enjoy a 
better desktop experience (I have used Linux as my primary desktop for 
17 years), I can also see the server-side uses for the systemd approach, 
most of which have to do with highly dynamic cloud-style systems (and 
I'm thinking private cloud, not public).  I can see how being 
load-responsive and rapidly spinning up compute resources as needed and 
for only as long as needed could help reduce my cost of power; spread 
out to millions of servers (like Google or Facebook) and the energy 
savings could be very significant.  Much like how package delivery 
companies plan routes to use only right-hand turns to save megabucks per 
year on fuel costs.