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There are remarkably few people developing systemd (the whole project, not just init) full-time. No language is going to produce quality software in a project

There are remarkably few people developing systemd (the whole project, not just init) full-time. No language is going to produce quality software in a project implementing too much functionality with too few resources. The Go and Rust "safe systems language" hype is strong right now so the language choice is being attacked. The core cause is much simpler to explain. Systemd (the project) is complex, broad, and deep in scope. It takes a lot of time and effort to arrive at a quality implementation of something like that. I fully expect the majority of the systemd code to be rewritten, even if the language doesn't change. What we have today is a usable prototype. When everyone is satisfied with the architecture, feature set, and configuration schema of systemd, after the dust settles, this is all going to be revisited, if there are any users left to warrant it. There's much work to do, and I bet many of you reading this thread could contribute to getting systemd to where it needs to be. If you use Linux, and can code, clone the systemd repo and start helping!

mixedCase 10y ago
If systemd devs cared about proper modularity it would be much easier to collaborate. I believe the first step towards a rewrite is just making an init system+daemon supervisor that (at least partially) understands systemd unit files or a similarly simple solution. systemd's huge grapple on Linux systems was 95% caused by just by people not wanting to maintain shell scripts (which is understandable).
- thegeomaster 10y ago
  This. I see criticisms of systemd all around Hacker News, but I find it really easy to create a unit file on a production system and just go systemctl start <unit-file>. I sometimes even create shell scripts for some tasks and create one-off unit files so I can run them easily as the right user, and have proper logging for free. I'm not a system administrator and I just appreciate that the user-system interface is easy to work with, for the occasions when there's no dedicated sysop in the team.
  - drinchev 10y ago
    I second this. As far back as I have been a Linux user ( back to Slackware 4 ) I was very pissed by the systemd ideas. Nowadays I think it's priceless when I can just create a unit file for my NodeJS and do journalctl -fu my_app. I think the criticism goes to the leader of systemd, who has exceptional arrogance ( as far as I have read ). Maybe if there is a competition between systemd and you name it, the init system will feel more natural.
forgottenpass 10y ago
clone the systemd repo and start helping! systemd is an exercise in high coupling and low cohesion. Most of the valid complaints about it are sniffing around this issue, even if they're otherwise poorly articulated or salty. The devs have shown they don't give half a damn about criticism towards that point. Why would I bother sending them patches to change a design I know they're committed to? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

mixedCase 10y ago

If systemd devs cared about proper modularity it would be much easier to collaborate. I believe the first step towards a rewrite is just making an init system+daemon supervisor that (at least partially) understands systemd unit files or a similarly simple solution. systemd's huge grapple on Linux systems was 95% caused by just by people not wanting to maintain shell scripts (which is understandable).

thegeomaster 10y ago
This. I see criticisms of systemd all around Hacker News, but I find it really easy to create a unit file on a production system and just go systemctl start <unit-file>. I sometimes even create shell scripts for some tasks and create one-off unit files so I can run them easily as the right user, and have proper logging for free. I'm not a system administrator and I just appreciate that the user-system interface is easy to work with, for the occasions when there's no dedicated sysop in the team.
- drinchev 10y ago
  I second this. As far back as I have been a Linux user ( back to Slackware 4 ) I was very pissed by the systemd ideas. Nowadays I think it's priceless when I can just create a unit file for my NodeJS and do journalctl -fu my_app. I think the criticism goes to the leader of systemd, who has exceptional arrogance ( as far as I have read ). Maybe if there is a competition between systemd and you name it, the init system will feel more natural.

forgottenpass 10y ago

clone the systemd repo and start helping! systemd is an exercise in high coupling and low cohesion. Most of the valid complaints about it are sniffing around this issue, even if they're otherwise poorly articulated or salty. The devs have shown they don't give half a damn about criticism towards that point. Why would I bother sending them patches to change a design I know they're committed to? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯