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Everyone Hates systemd
Exploring one of Linux’s most heated holy wars
If there’s one thing that techies love to engage in, it’s holy wars.
Nothing matches the self-righteous feeling of spending half of your workday telling various internet strangers that they are idiots.
Whether it’s mocking the newest Vim user still stuck in their terminal; sharing the latest meme about malware to your Windows friends; or chiding MacOS as the poor man’s FreeBSD while simultaneously deriding the Apple fanboys for overpaying for it.
There’s a holy war for every technical niche.
However, there’s one holy war that you may not have heard about. It’s not new by any means, having started back in 2010. But in terms of contention, it ranks near the top.
It’s systemd.
If you’re an avid Linux user, then you’re already well aware of the systemd’s lore. In which case, feel free to skip this article and go straight to the comments with your spicy take. I know you want to.
But if you are a software engineer with only a surface-level understanding of Linux like me, then you’re likely unfamiliar with systemd’s sordid past.
It wasn’t until a couple of years ago when having drinks with some sysadmins from work that I became aware of the drama.
“Man, screw systemd. It’s the worst thing to happen to Linux,” one of them spouted. His numerous empties had given him the courage to preach to the choir, as most of the others nodded in agreement.
I nodded along too, though I had no idea what he was talking about. When I got home that night, I did a quick Google search to give me the rundown. And oh boy, did it take me down a rabbit hole. Or a cesspool, depending on your perspective.
While a lot has already been written on the matter, I couldn’t resist tossing in my two cents. This post will be recounting the history of Linux init systems, the rise of systemd, and why it has become so infamous in the various Linux communities.
