this post was submitted on 29 Jun 2023
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As service manager systemd nice, but look all services:
That's look as overkill. I use only systemd, journald, systemd-boot, systemd-networkd, systemd-resolved and systemd-timesyncd, but that a lot systemd. Feel like system make monolith.
systemd-nspawn for example. Systems manager for containers. Seriously. Why than exists? I don't understand. Really, someone use that daemon?
I think that's a bad argument. If you go out of your way to install and configure all of these, then yes, they exist and you can do that - but that doesn't automatically mean they're bad.
But in most operating systems they're not installed, not configured, and you'll never have to deal with any of that.
I actually use systemd-boot because it's very easy to install and configure and systemd-resolved, but for a lot of those I haven't even heard about.
And furthermore even if more of them (I think it's highly unlikely that any OS would use all of those services by default) were preinstalled, they'd only be an issue if they'd cause trouble. If your system is running systemd-whatever and it works well then what's the issue? The name itself?
As I wrote below, the problem is that this does not comply with the principle of K.I.S.S. One application should solve one task and can be replaced. Even now it is quite difficult to remove systemd-logind, for example. Because, although these are different services, they have long merged into a huge tangle.
you can use EFISTUB If you don't have dual boot. This literally load kernel from UEFI. I don't know more simple way. https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/EFISTUB
That's not KISS, but the UNIX principle. And even that part is wrong, as in traditional UNIXes applications were certainly not replaceable.
can't you replace UNIX applications in user space? Why, besides the fact that some simply have nothing to replace?
How you would replace those in non-SystemD setup? Asking for learning purposes.
In fact, this is a difficult question.
In Linux, it is usually customary to use the K.I.S.S. methodology, In any case, it was once customary to use it. This in some way meant that there were a huge number of applications performing exactly one task. For example, chron only started timers, ntpd only adjusted the time, grub only loaded the system and nothing else. It also allowed you to change the components at your discretion. With systemd this principle was somewhat lost, since one service with a huge number of its own daemons absorbs more and more functions. This is what causes concern. In some sense, if systemd at some point becomes even more monolithic, it will no longer be possible to change only part of its functionality. For example, I'm not sure if it's possible to disable journald and leave only rsyslog.
On the other hand, the now-forgotten init.V fully adhered to the principle of K.I.S.S. since he was literally the initiator of a set of scripts that could contain anything. If you want, change the user at startup via exec, if you want via su. Isolate the application with any available program. It was as flexible as possible, but on the other hand, the entry threshold was quite high. The complexity of writing scripts for init.V was much higher than systemd.
Therefore, there is no single answer. On the one hand, init.V have maximum modularity, on the other hand, systemd have ease of use.
It's never been customary to adhere to KISS in Linux. This whole explanation reads like it came out of a game of Chinese whispers.
or maybe I didn't understand the question. If you about that change daemons to non systemd, then:
systemd-boot -> grub, lilo, efistub
systemd-networkd -> some system scripts (different for different distributions), netplan, NetworkManager
systemd-resolved -> dnsmasq, bind, set directly on 8.8.8.8
systemd-timesyncd -> chrony, ntp
journal -> rsyslog
systemd -> init.V, openRC
you do know what the linux kernel is, right?
Spoiler: It's a monolithic kernel
In the end your distro packager decided to not split systemd into different packages, I believe only Gentoo does actually guide you to this
so you actually barking on the wrong tree
I know that the core is monolithic.
I installed these services myself, not all of them, of course, but those that I listed at the end. I know about the rest simply because I prefer to read the documentation for the services I work with. I'm not particularly happy with the systemd system as a whole. however, since there is no better alternative, the choice is small.
AFAIK, nspawn is mostly a debugging tool for working with the init system without having to actually boot a live system/VM. At least that's all I've ever used it for.
It also a use case. =)
The documentation for systemd-nspawn itself says:
The developers themselves position the daemon as a simple alternative to LXD containers.