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by 9fb29947 3933 days ago
Can we please stop making Linux as a thing about choice[1] and stop fragmenting the community in the name of following a UNIX philosophy, the rule of KISS or some other nonsense? Are we really going to spend lots of energy the next n years discussing the best init system? Isn't this a pretty simple and solved problem by now?

[1] http://islinuxaboutchoice.com/
2 comments
wicket 3933 days ago
Linux is just a kernel. It always has been and always will be. It is pretty useless without userspace. That's why we have distros. As long as multiple distros exist, they need some way or other to differentiate themselves. Differentiation in distros naturally presents us with choice. Linux has always been and will always be about choice. Any attempt to converge the userspace does not change that.

If you want an operating system where everything is developed in tandem, you might want to consider switching to one of the BSDs.

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vezzy-fnord 3933 days ago
UNIX philosophy, the rule of KISS or some other nonsense

How are those things nonsense?

Are we really going to spend lots of energy the next n years discussing the best init system?

Why the hell shouldn't we?

Isn't this a pretty simple and solved problem by now?

Nope. It's actually a very hard problem with little in the way of complete solutions. Take your ignorant trolling elsewhere, please.

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phatfish 3933 days ago
It seems to me there only needs to be one init system, otherwise it is a fragmented mess. Windows is gaining fast on Linux in the cloud/server space (SSH support, docker/container support, "Nano Server", more open source components).

Windows has no fragmentation issues in the core system.

Whether it is Systemd or System XVI im not really that bothered. Something needs to be decided fast however, and Systemd has a big head start.

I just hope it dosen't end up like the KDE/Gnome mess.

One kernel. One init. One desktop.

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vezzy-fnord 3933 days ago
The mere existence of alternatives doesn't suddenly transform you from "unified utopia" to "fragmented dystopian hellhole".

Windows isn't gaining anything on the demographics that use GNU/Linux for cloud deployments. You're reading too many articles on HN and extrapolating that Windows must be curb stomping its competition because of some smart business decisions on part of Nadella and co. You're further making the assumption that Linux needs to compete with Windows. It doesn't.

It's not that there is fragmentation, so much as the problem space is quite open-ended and there are multiple solutions. Forcing a square peg into a round hole (systemd ueber alles) is a recipe for impedance mismatch and stagnation, not unification.

One kernel. One init. One desktop.

Ein Volk. Ein Reich. Ein Fuehrer.

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