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What do you mean? If systemd is monolithic, coreutils is as well. In your response you make it sound like there is only one person who has this definition. That

by bkor 12y ago

What do you mean? If systemd is monolithic, coreutils is as well. In your response you make it sound like there is only one person who has this definition. That's not the case. Further, since ages UNIX (also BSD) put everything into one repository. That's also not called monolithic. You're the one with the different definition IMO.

nknighthb 12y ago
coreutils certainly has a monolithic release process. However, as jude- points out[0], in other senses it is quite modular. The BSDs do have somewhat monolithic repositories, along with somewhat monolithic development and release processes. All the Linux distributions have, ultimately, monolithic release processes. However, components within these ecosystems are much more loosely coupled. Mixing different implementations (or different versions of the same implementations) is not only practical but sometimes essential to getting useful work done. I have a nuanced definition of monolithic that recognizes various ways in which something may or may not be monolithic. Lennart and his cohorts have a very absolutist but conveniently-shifting definition of monolithic that they demand everyone blindly adhere to lest they be accused of spreading FUD. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8203821 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8203821
jude- 12y ago
I believe these are the definitions used in software engineering. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong. A "monolithic" system is a system that cannot be factored into stand-alone components. That is, there is a high degree of logical coupling between its components that make them difficult or impossible to use independently. A "modular" system is a system built of multiple logically-distinct components. Note that this descriptor says nothing about their degree of coupling. Examples: * Linux, the X.org server, and systemd are both modular and monolithic. * Coreutils is modular but not monolithic. * The "ls" program is monolithic and not modular. Note that under these definitions, "modular" is necessary but not sufficient for "not monolithic". From the way he talks about it, however, Lennart seems to believe that "modular" means "not monolithic".

by bkor 12y ago

nknighthb 12y ago

coreutils certainly has a monolithic release process. However, as jude- points out[0], in other senses it is quite modular. The BSDs do have somewhat monolithic repositories, along with somewhat monolithic development and release processes. All the Linux distributions have, ultimately, monolithic release processes. However, components within these ecosystems are much more loosely coupled. Mixing different implementations (or different versions of the same implementations) is not only practical but sometimes essential to getting useful work done. I have a nuanced definition of monolithic that recognizes various ways in which something may or may not be monolithic. Lennart and his cohorts have a very absolutist but conveniently-shifting definition of monolithic that they demand everyone blindly adhere to lest they be accused of spreading FUD. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8203821 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8203821

jude- 12y ago

I believe these are the definitions used in software engineering. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong. A "monolithic" system is a system that cannot be factored into stand-alone components. That is, there is a high degree of logical coupling between its components that make them difficult or impossible to use independently. A "modular" system is a system built of multiple logically-distinct components. Note that this descriptor says nothing about their degree of coupling. Examples: * Linux, the X.org server, and systemd are both modular and monolithic. * Coreutils is modular but not monolithic. * The "ls" program is monolithic and not modular. Note that under these definitions, "modular" is necessary but not sufficient for "not monolithic". From the way he talks about it, however, Lennart seems to believe that "modular" means "not monolithic".