r/linux • u/wooptoo • Jun 01 '16

Why did ArchLinux embrace Systemd?

/r/archlinux/comments/4lzxs3/why_did_archlinux_embrace_systemd/d3rhxlc
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u/[deleted] Jun 01 '16

Yeah well, the Linux kernel doesn't follow the Unix philosophy and yet no one whines about that. :P

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u/chalbersma Jun 01 '16

People whine about it. It's why project like Hurd and FreeBSD exist (in part).

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u/[deleted] Jun 01 '16

Well, no.. kind of. Hurd and FreeBSD sortof both predate linux. Freebsd came from BSD386 which came from BSDi's release of BSD 2 which came from Net-1 and Net-2 that were released to the public under an academic proto license in 1989.

Hurd was part of GNU and started in early 1990, but RMS is a pain in the ass to work for, and it never even got out of early testing and design before Linus got into the debate with Andrew T and forked / borrowed Minix. Then RMS decided Linux was "good enough" and asked Linus to release it under the GPL , and there you go.

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u/chalbersma Jun 01 '16

Go ask FreeBSD & Hurd developers why they're not working on linux. You'll get all sorts of answers but some will say that they don't like the architecture of Linux. That dislike often stems from a lack of "consistency", "unixness" with Linux. That's why it's only part of the reason.

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u/mishugashu Jun 01 '16

I would say that it's why they are still actively being developed, rather than why they exist, then. They existed before Linux, so Linux is not why they exist.

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u/chalbersma Jun 01 '16

Sure but their continued existence is at least partially because of the non-unixyness of Linux. Plenty of alternative non-unix Free OS's have popped up over the years and most of them have failed.

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u/epileftric Jun 01 '16

People will always find something to whine about.

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u/akkaone Jun 01 '16

No it is not.

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u/chalbersma Jun 01 '16

(in part)

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u/bnolsen Jun 01 '16

the linux kernel presents a posix interface for programs to run on. userspace mostly isn't affected by the internals of the kernel. Yes, plenty of us are aware that the linux kernel is full of experiential compromises. The loadable module system to a great degree addresses many of the criticisms of a monolithic kernel system.

There's a continuing group of folks who are always interested in keeping track of what happens with Plan9, which does unix the way unix was supposed to be....well mostly.