Re: Another system management tool to disappear.
I'm responding to this because I believe it is right to do so. Anyone
is welcome to draw their own conclusions. I have no desire for flame
wars or hyperbole, I just think there are legitimate practical issues
that can be discussed if we keep our heads.
On Mon, 2015-08-31 at 01:00 +1000, Andrew McGlashan wrote:
> <snip rubbish>
>
> Lennart is the /main/ reason systemd exists; vocal or not.
>
Perhaps you are right, but he really shouldn't be the reason for any
discussion.
With respect, I see no reason to blame Lennart Poettering for any
trouble you might have with systemd. I could name a handful of packages
in Jessie that are considered stable, but have rough edges. That is not
the upstream developer's fault. Mr. Poettering is not the one who makes
the decisions for Debian or anyone else. You should discuss any problems
with the package maintainer here at Debian, by submitting a bug
report.
If you really have a problem with systemd's design, why don't you take
the source, fix it and submit the patch?
> The linux kernel is bloated, it shouldn't be as large IMHO either. It
> too goes against the "*NIX" way....
As a programmer, I find that argument "hilarious", because the first
purpose of software is to be useful. Ken Thompson coined the idea of
the "Unix way" as a design philosophy, and it is a good one - but he
also knew when to ignore it. The concept that most Linux fans are
pushing when they make the "bloated argument" is actually a design
philosophy of "worse is better" - that argues simplicity is the key
ingredient, even at the cost of it being a bad implementation.
If that is your design preference, perhaps you would enjoy looking at
things like L4 or Hurd. =) They are really cool micro-kernels. The
reason why Linux is not a micro-kernel is really performance. In the
real world, sometimes "simple design" incurs a performance penalty.
In the real world, you end up making certain trade-offs, and often it
has to do with the size and complexity of the code. You are right in
that sometimes things can be done better, but then again, but no one is
stopping you. The code is open, and you all you have to do is make a
patch.
>
> Read Lennart's own blog, you'll see that he is "in the business" of
> making Linux his own; thus my coined phrase "Lennart's Linux"
> .
Lennart's opinions really do not have any bearing the discussion, any
more than Linus's. Both are interesting, and very opinionated
gentlemen. Our only concern is freedom of source code, and so their
opinions are irrelevant.
>
> I want no part of Lennart Linux and I don't want ANY feature creep to
> lessen my freedom of choice for any essential component on my systems.
I'm not criticizing you personally, but I have heard this said by many
people, almost verbatim. It's not right to expect everyone to do things
the way you or I insist upon. No one is forcing anyone to use anything.
No one is impinging your freedom. The code is there specifically so you
can patch it, and compile it yourself if you want. If you don't like
something, patch it. That is the whole point of open source.
You have your freedom. All you need do is exercise it.
>
> Once you take in systemd, you are going to get to the stage that it
> will be necessary whether you like it or not.
Not true. It is a choice. If you don't like systemd then you can always
compile the code yourself. Debian made a choice that they believed was
in the best interests of their users at the time. It's always easy to
put other people on the "hot seat", but when you are making the
decisions sometimes there are no easy answers. In an organization as
large as Debian, not everyone is going to be happy with every decision.
When I first heard about the Debian TC decision, I was very unhappy.
I've come to realize that if I had a problem, it was not the TC's fault,
it was mine. Debian is essentially the efforts of a lot of different
people, and I have no right to criticize their work, if I am not putting
in the same effort. Debian as a whole does a lot of effort.
>
> And ANYONE whom speaks against systemd is, quite simply, just like one
> who utters the name Voldermort in the Harry Potter story. Both are
> just as evil, but one is purely fictional.
Personally, I am neither for or against systemd. I've come to see it as
just another piece of software. If it fails expectations it will be
replaced. It's as simple as that.
Take care and have a great day!
T.J.
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