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#launchd

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@CursedSilicon @gettie mostly because #systemD (and it's competitiors) took all the right lessions:

  • Start less
  • Start more in parallel
  • Resolve dependencies to avoid waiting times

And basically everyone (#OpenRC, #Upstart, etc. Even #LaunchD [the #init for #macOS that is literally the SystemD but before SystemD and by Apple] and #SMF [#Sun's SystemD for #Solaris] did that to allow for boot times in secinds, not minutes…

youtube.com/watch?v=o_AIw9bGog

Replied in thread

@fabiscafe @okapi OFC @chesheer 's criticism is understandable on #FreeBSD given that #SystemD is inherenty focussed and intertwined with #Linux (just as it's Inspiration, #LaunchD, is intertwined with #macOS's Darwin/NeXTstep kernel).

  • The problem is after some hefty "init wars" with like #Upstart and others SystemD became the de-facto standard, and the "(statistical) rounding errors" of #BSD users got sidelined, in part because BSDs looked at that mess and went like "Nyet, SysVinit is fine!" and continued their fiddling around...

And sadly there's nothing they (or anyone else) could've done unless they had multiplied suddenly and being able to keepcthe old tech stack maintainable.

OFC I wish for more diversity in solutions, but #Linux being #streamlined is what makes #portability across distros easier and boosted adoption as well as providing massive gains in solutions like #DXVK, #Proton and #Wine in general.

  • And TBH most "#TechIlliterates" aka. "#Normies" frankly don't give a shit what OS they use. All it needs to do is serve them their eMails and allow them to 'consoom themselbes happy' as in watching YouTube, Play games, etc.
BSD.cafe Mastodon Portalchesheer (@chesheer@bsd.cafe)So, known parties tirelessly work to make Linux a new Windows. Gnome announces even harder dependency on systemd. GDM will depend on systemd userdb infrastructure. gnome-session will use systemd service manager instead of its own code that "has received very minimal attention in the 17 years since it was first written". As per article, even now they do not test Gnome in non-systemd environments. It's like a writing on the wall. https://blogs.gnome.org/adrianvovk/2025/06/10/gnome-systemd-dependencies/ #Gnome #Linux #systemd
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@fabiscafe @okapi espechally in the form of an interactive desktop...

  • I could see it valid for multiple shell sessions, but #tmux & #screen cover that pretty well.

  • If one has to login into different machines then chances are #aithentification is centralized anyway.

Needless to say #modernizations like #SystemD don't happen because people like #Poettering are "hobbyless", but because the preexisting status-quo (#SysVinit) was slow, inflexible and error-prone by strict linearity and non-parallelization.

  • With a literal /etc/init file one can literally get a system to hang due to a mistake (i.e. certain call doesn't get invoked correctly), whereas on #SystemD (and competing solutions like #LaunchD on #macOS and #SMF on #Solaris) your desktop / laptop will continue to noot even if it doesn't have a network connection.

Not to mention as Benno Rice explained: 'Shit just gotmore dynamic!': We don't have that one big ass maingrame and serial terminals, instead we have laptops that may he carried around a campus or traveled with all day and that constantly switch between wireless and wired networks and have VPN tunnels open and whatnot...

Replied in thread

@BestGirlGrace yes, and they'll basically refuse to accept the #InconvenientTruth that #systemd is at worst a "#NecessaryEvil" because what came before it was way worse, competing solutions failed to get adopted and even mainline #Unix like #Solaris (#SMF) and #macOS (#LaunchD clearly is the inspiration for SystemD!) did the same...

youtube.com/watch?v=o_AIw9bGogo

@nuintari @pid_eins @OS1337 Again: I disagree as both #SMF and #LaunchD do more than just #init amd like #systemd are a whole collection of utilities and not a single massive binary.

In fact, #journalctl is an evidently better way to debug issues and fix problems with #services / #daemons than having to parse #Syslog through dozens of filters or spechalized tools.

Similarly, if #gstreamer & #ALSA / #OSS / #PulseAudio weren't shitshows, we'd not see the need for #PipeWire!

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@nuintari I disagree.

#SystemD is a "necessary evil" because what existed previously was bad for anything that isn't a "build once never change" server that never gets changed much...
youtube.com/watch?v=o_AIw9bGog

The only reason I "cut" systemd from @OS1337 as of now is because I can't make it - or the #GNUtils that preceded it - fit within the few hundred kB on a 1.440 kB FDD I can spare.

Noone wants to go back to #SysVinit when even the fastest systems took longer to boot that most peoole need to make a shitty coffee or dump ass on the toilet.

  • Amd dumping SysVinit - just like #Linux dumping #i386 - is somewhat inevitable given the amount of work it took to keep it workable at all...