[gentoo-amd64] Re: Boycott Systemd

[Duncan <1i5t5.duncan@cox.net>]

Frank Peters posted on Mon, 22 Sep 2014 14:41:14 -0400 as excerpted:

> Good design is highly flexible and configurable with little assumption
> made on the nature or needs of the user.
> 
> Let's consider a simple program to display digital images.  A good
> program design will not only contain built-in routines to accommodate
> the standard image formats but will also provide non-specific raster
> buffers to allow a user to view unconventional or even non-existent
> formats.  A good program design will also make no assumptions about the
> nature of the image data but rather allow the user to create any needed
> specifications.  A professional program thus allows both standard
> conventions but keeps the overall capability unrestricted and open
> ended.
> 
> As best as I can understand (I am not an expert in systems programming)
> under Torvalds the Linux OS conforms to such professional design goals.

/The/ Linux OS?  There is no such single entity.

There is /the/ Linux kernel.  There are all sorts of OSs designed and 
deployed for all sorts of different usage, using that kernel.  Linus 
controls the kernel, and had a hand in developing a few relatively 
insignificant userspace bits that run on that kernel and some subset of 
available userspace OS platforms, but he doesn't control userspace, and 
AFAIK, has no interest in doing so.

By raw number of deployments out there "The Linux OS" would have to refer 
to Android.  But systemd isn't part of the Android Linux OS/platform, nor 
does Android have much to do with the gentoo of the list on which this 
discussion is taking place, so that doesn't make sense in the context of 
this thread.

In the context of this thread, one might make an educated guess that what 
you refer to as "The Linux OS" would be what is technically known as
GNU/Linux, the GNU libc and various development tools, etc, that run on 
top of it and the Linux kernel, and on which most common Linux 
distributions other than android, including gentoo, base themselves.

And while individual bits of that platform may have happened to conform 
to your description in the past, there's no reason other bits included in 
the most common implementations of that platform in the future have to 
continue to do so.  That's fine, however, as it's all FLOSS, and devs and 
users are free to develop and use what works for them best, forking off 
of the most common solution where they find it worth their while to do 
so.  If /enough/ people do so, then the most common solution will switch 
to a different one as a result.

Which at a slightly different level is what we've already seen happen 
with Android.  Enough people found it useful that it's now the most 
common, rather more so than GNU/Linux.  But the same GNU/Linux ecosystem 
and its many variants that was around before, still continues to exist, 
as enough people with the skills to continue to continue development, 
continue to find it useful enough to do just that, continue development.

Which is exactly the situation non-systemd GNU/Linux looks to be headed 
for as well.  The systemd variant appears to be fast becoming the most 
common, but at least at this point, there's enough interest in the 
continued existence and development of non-systemd variants, that they 
continue to exist and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future, 
as well.

-- 
Duncan - List replies preferred.   No HTML msgs.
"Every nonfree program has a lord, a master --
and if you use the program, he is your master."  Richard Stallman