Re: init-select

[Gaudenz Steinlin <gaudenz@debian.org>]

Hi

Michael Gilbert <mgilbert@debian.org> writes:

> Hi :)
>
> The TC init discussion has diverged significantly from Debian's usual
> ideals of freedom and meritocracy, so I decided to do something about
> it.
>
> So, today I wrote init-select.  It's a small tool that empowers users
> to freely and simply choose among all of the available init systems.
> It also empowers Debian contributors to devote their energy toward
> their favorite init knowing that users can easily swap inits to try
> the new features they are working on.

IMO you are solving the wrong problem. Or how would you ensure that
while the user can easily switch the init system, when doing so half of
the daemons installed won't start because they don't support the
alternative. And if he switches back, the other half does not start
because the only support the other alternative. IMO the hard problem is
mostly about which systems must be supported by all packages.
init-select does not help to solve this.

>
> But most importantly, it provides a path for eliminating the
> politicization of the init system problem.
>
> That would be achieved if Debian's default init were to simply become
> init-select's default.
>
> Now, I certainly don't want all that weight solely on my shoulders, so
> I would very much prefer this choice to be team-maintained, and I
> think the installer/boot team has the expertise and clout to make the
> right choice when the time is really right to change the default
> Debian init.
>
> The initial package is up for review at:
> http://people.debian.org/~mgilbert/other
>
> I've set the maintainer to debian-boot now in the hope that this
> proposal sounds reasonable.  There is of course more work to do, which
> is documented in a TODO file in the source, which will make the
> package better, but the existing functionality, I think, is already
> useful.  I can switch inits on a whim in seconds now.

I don't see why the installer team should be in any better position to
choose the default init system for Debian than any other team. At least
since I'm involved (~ 10 years) the mailinglist name for the installer
was a bit of a  misnomer. The team has nothing to do with "everyday"
booting of the system. It probably comes from the fact that the
installer before d-i was called boot-floppies.

So IMHO this should not be maintained by debian-boot. But then I'm not
really active here any more at the moment, so if people actually active
on debian-boot want to maintain it, I won't oppose any further.

Gaudenz

>
> Anyway, that is my modest proposal.  I hope this doesn't sound too
> overly idealistic, intrusive, or I suppose out of the blue :)
>
> Best wishes,
> Mike
>
>
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