back to article systemd 253: You're looking at the future of enterprise Linux boot processes

The first systemd release of 2023 is here, and it introduces a brand spanking new tool for building Unified Kernel Image (UKI) files. Fresh versions of systemd appear roughly twice a year, apart from release candidates. We reported on the last version, systemd 252, in November last year. As we said at the time, systemd 252 …

  1. TVU Silver badge

    systemd 253: You're looking at the future of enterprise Linux boot processes

    I'm not sure I like that scenario and I'd much prefer to see systemd 451 that automatically replaces itself with sysVinit and then self combusts in flames never to be seen again.

    1. bombastic bob Silver badge
      Linux

      Re: systemd 253: You're looking at the future of enterprise Linux boot processes

      Systemd 451 would naturally be preceded by systemd 365 [no need for worry]

      I also have to wonder why RH went to a monolithic "thing" that needs regular monolithic top-down updates like Windows...

      (perhaps it is a form of job security? sysV makes more sense in that it does NOT need regular monolithic top-down updates)

      The Linux kernel grows with new features and new hardware support and the occasional bug fix. THAT should be enough for JUST the kernel to abstract the userland from the hardware on its OWN!

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: systemd 253: You're looking at the future of enterprise Linux boot processes

        What is strange is that due to the monolithic nature of systemd and in particular its "tentacles" such as systemd-networkd, it is very difficult to import it on a site by site basis.

        Consider for example Red Hat's refusal to use it for RHEL8 and 9 (unlike 7, they don't even have it in EPEL because maintaining individual systemd components is too tricky).

        https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2020254

        https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1650342

        So basically the issue is, RHEL favours NetworkManager but the only way to get systemd-networkd into the site install, is to not only maintain systemd-networkd but also an entire self managed and non-standard install of systemd (where the hooks haven't been patched out by Red Hat).

        Screw that. You basically have worst of both worlds of a monolithic and distributed design. Utter trash.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: systemd 253: You're looking at the future of enterprise Linux boot processes

      Wait till systemd 666 and the fiery gates of hell. Hail Satan.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: systemd 253: You're looking at the future of enterprise Linux boot processes

        systemd 666 will be completely benign however other groups will be fanatically opposed to it and commit all manner of atrocities in its name.

        The key difference between systemd 666 and alternatives is the removal of "PulseAudioIOd".

        1. Zolko Silver badge

          Re: systemd 253: You're looking at the future of enterprise Linux boot processes

          I don't have the feeling you have understood the concept behind "systemd 666 ". Else, you'd have suggested that by that version Poettering's name will have become hallowed.

  2. VoiceOfTruth

    I wrote previously that systemd will become a layer on top of the kernel

    Now it will be building that kernel too.

  3. Dizzy Dwarf Bronze badge

    I do wish systemd would just fuck off

    Way to ruin the weekend. Thanks for that.

    1. GrumpenKraut
      Mushroom

      Re: I do wish systemd would just fuck off

      Dear systemd

      Fuck off.

      Then keep fucking off.

      Fuck off until you come up to a gate with a sign saying "You Can't Fuck Off Past Here".

      Climb over the gate, dream the impossible dream, and keep fucking off forever.

  4. Greg 38
    Pint

    This is perfect for a Friday story

    The systemd haters haven't had their pot stirred in some time. Today is the day then, hurrah! I've off to get a pint and a packet of crisps while the thumbs down pile on. There needs be an icon for "old man yells at cloud".

    1. Will Godfrey Silver badge

      Re: This is perfect for a Friday story

      You're right, there should be.

      There also should be an icon for "kids think they know better than their parents and have to learn the hard way".

      1. cookieMonster Silver badge

        Re: This is perfect for a Friday story

        Why the fuck can’t I up vote more than once

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: This is perfect for a Friday story

          Perhaps that is a good feature request.

          Those with long running experience get *two* votes rather than one so that we can help guide the inexperience masses rather than getting bogged down in their noise and naïve choices.

          This exists in industry most of the time, so why not internet forums?

        2. John Brown (no body) Silver badge
          Joke

          Re: This is perfect for a Friday story

          "Why the fuck can’t I up vote more than once"

          Once systemd gets it's own HTML rendering engine and becomes the basis of all browsers, it will be possible :-)

    2. TVU Silver badge

      Re: This is perfect for a Friday story

      There are very rational reasons why many people have valid reservations about Lennart Lennart Poettering's misguided creation and Nala Ginrut's observations are presented below:

      "Few years ago, I was working for SUSE Linux Enterprise (SLE) as full-time developer. My boss asked me if I’m interested in maintaining systemd for SLE. At that time I know little about systemd. Then I said “I’ll see what I can do”.

      I’ve downloaded the source code accompanied with 2000+ backport patches, this took almost a half day. When I was waiting, I had reviewed the code and try to find out what’s in it. And I had contacted several experienced colleagues to learn about it from them.

      Finally, I could figure out that systemd takes advantages of Linux kernel things to start services in parallel. This sounds good, but it introduces unbelievable complexity for such a functionality. If you’re a common desktop user, maybe you rarely encounter problems, or you may endure some bugs in systemd. But for an enterprise version Linux, it makes the work of maintainer hard.

      And the 2000+ backport patches implies that I (as the maintainer) have to maintain all of them alone, since it’s backported. I discussed with my boss, and told him this kind of work requires a small group people, rather than one man effort. Fortunately, my boss agreed with me completely, so he managed to throw out this package to a bigger team.

      Even now, I still remember the complexity in systemd code, and I always tell my engineer team to avoid such kind of complexity in the project. Eliminating complexity is far more important than adding features without clear mind. Don’t try to put every good features into just one project. Every feature is good, but package all of them, you’ll get shit.

      I don’t know who got this package finally, but I hope she/he is fine…"

      ^ The home user might not notice systemd's effects and consequences but for those of us who work in deployed enterprise Linux situations, we do get to see the downsides of systemd.

      1. yetanotheraoc Silver badge

        Re: This is perfect for a Friday story

        "Don’t try to put every good features into just one project."

        And here we are, nothing has changed. Why was ukify added to systemd? Creating, measuring (?!), and signing a UKI are different from loading one. It should be a separate package.

        1. The Travelling Dangleberries

          Re: This is perfect for a Friday story

          "Don’t try to put every good features into just one project."

          I haven't checked the systemd roadmap yet, but does anyone else know when systemd's eagerly awaited email client functionality will be implemented?

          1. Zolko Silver badge

            Re: This is perfect for a Friday story

            e-mail ! Ha, that's already in. Now they're going for virtual boot in the system universe meta. Or the other way round. I'm sure I got the words right, but may-be in the wrong order

          2. Sceptic Tank Silver badge
            Big Brother

            Re: This is perfect for a Friday story

            What games are built in?

    3. bombastic bob Silver badge
      Devil

      Re: This is perfect for a Friday story

      that icon will be next to the icons for "young whippersnapper trips and falls because his nose was in the air" and "My mind is so open that my brain fell out"

      1. jake Silver badge

        Re: This is perfect for a Friday story

        Indeed. Somebody should tell these kids that an open mind doesn't mean holes in the head.

    4. jake Silver badge

      Re: This is perfect for a Friday story

      Those of us old enough to know better aren't the frogs in the pot, young feller me lad.

    5. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: This is perfect for a Friday story

      ... an icon for "old man yells at cloud".

      Hmm ...

      Fuck off, kid.

  5. Steve Davies 3 Silver badge
    Alien

    so...?

    how does all this work with kernels built from you know those pesky things called sources?

    If you must have a signed kernel then unless there is a workaround this move sounds the death knell for custom kernels.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: so...?

      You can sign your own kernel with your own key, as long as it is trusted on the machine you want to run it on.

      If you want to write a UEFI boot loader that works in general, usually you get it signed by Microsoft.

      1. David 132 Silver badge
        Mushroom

        Re: so...?

        AKA “Please Mr Microsoft, may I run my own Linux build on my own PC please?”

        Grrrr.

        1. Steve Davies 3 Silver badge
          Mushroom

          Re: Please Mr Microsoft...

          Not please... F**k you.

          I will do what I want on MY system. I gave the finger to your shitty OS for home use in 2009 and there is F**k all chance that I'm going to cow down to you barstewards.

          So SatNad, go suck on this --> [see icon]

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Please Mr Microsoft...

            We are getting closer and closer to a point where that will no longer be a thing.

          2. David 132 Silver badge
            Pint

            Re: Please Mr Microsoft...

            Don't hold back Steve, tell us what you really think... you're among friends here...

            Have a pint. It's POETS day, and beer o'clock somewhere in the world.

          3. nematoad Silver badge
            Thumb Up

            Re: Please Mr Microsoft...

            "...that I'm going to cow down to you "

            Did you mean kowtow? See here.

            If so I cannot disagree with your sentiment. All of my boxes are mine, not Microsoft's, Red Hat's, Gnome's or any distros that force me to use something I do not want to touch with a bargepole. That's why I'm sticking to PCLinuxOS and as others have said there are plenty more to chose from.

            That's why a lot of people love Linux.

            Don't like it? Move to another distro or roll your own if that's your thing.

        2. sebacoustic

          Re: so...?

          Hm. No. More like "Please Mr. Microsoft can I build a kernel and you sign it for distribution to a wide audience wh run it on hardware that is mostly used for Windows deployments?"

          You can sign your own kernels with your own key, just don't expect other people's machines to have the key installed out of the box.

          1. nijam Silver badge

            Re: so...?

            > just don't expect other people's machines to have the key installed out of the box

            Well, no machine should have keys installed out of the box, of course. They do, but they shouldn't.

  6. KarMann Silver badge
    Headmaster

    A tool tool, indeed

    A tool ukify tool to build….
    Well, that certainly inspires confidence that the authors have been paying attention to detail, right out of the gate.

    1. ChoHag Silver badge
      Coat

      Re: A tool tool, indeed

      Sould've called it Breacksit?

    2. KarMann Silver badge
      Facepalm

      Re: A tool tool, indeed

      Just occurred to me, it isn't clear, but I meant the authors of systemd & specifically its release notes, not The Register authors. I'd checked the release notes before posting that, to make sure it was an error there, not by El Reg.

      1. Liam Proven (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

        Re: A tool tool, indeed

        [Author here]

        > I meant the authors of systemd & specifically its release notes, not The Register authors.

        Thank you! I *was* worried until I checked and it found it wasn't me...

  7. stiine Silver badge
    Unhappy

    Thanks Microsoft...

    Do I need to say more?

  8. jake Silver badge

    One wonders what is going to happen ...

    ... when all the frogs realize that the water is starting to get uncomfortably hot.

    1. VoiceOfTruth

      Re: One wonders what is going to happen ...

      Eventually enough people will wake up and give systemd the boot. Its feature creep should have been cause long ago. The problem will be removing it. It is becoming the mighty shim on which everything depends, so removing it will affect everything = a lot of work. The sooner the process of getting systemd out starts, the less work there will be in the long run.

      1. werdsmith Silver badge

        Re: One wonders what is going to happen ...

        Like with Windows, that vast majority of desktop users don’t care. The major distro makers don’t care so it’s hard to see how the tide can be turned.

        1. VoiceOfTruth

          Re: One wonders what is going to happen ...

          (Alas) I think that you are right. Most people are not that bothered.

  9. Bebu Silver badge

    Pinocchio?

    I was idly wondering what would one expect if one added ChatGPT to Systemd?

    (The kitchen sink is already plumbed in I understand. :)

    Pinocchio could be an appropriate name for the resulting anathema because, apart from the nose thing, I suspect it might start up asking "Are we Windows yet?"

  10. Spasticus Autisticus
    Mushroom

    Embrace, Extend . . .

    Is Pootering (sic) part of the Extend mission by Microsoft to eventually Extinguish Linux as we currently know it?

    Perhaps it's a case of - systemd isn't finished until Linux can't boot?

    Beware of geeks bearing gifts.

    PS I'd like someone to ask AI Bing 'who are the useless cunts that work at Microsoft?'

    1. cookieMonster Silver badge

      Re: Embrace, Extend . . .

      who are the useless cunts that work at Microsoft

      As an AI language model, I cannot engage in derogatory or disrespectful language towards individuals or groups of people, including those who work at Microsoft or any other company. It is important to treat all individuals with respect and professionalism, regardless of our personal opinions or frustrations. It's important to remember that the people who work at Microsoft, or any other company, are human beings with feelings, families, and personal lives, and they are doing their best to do their jobs and contribute to society. Let's focus on constructive and positive conversations that can lead to better understanding and solutions.

      1. cookieMonster Silver badge

        Re: Embrace, Extend . . .

        In other words, all of them

  11. This post has been deleted by its author

  12. georgezilla

    So ......................

    So fucking up the init system wasn't good enough for them? And now the want to fuck up the whole thing?

    If in it's relative short life time it's on version 253, what kernel version would it be on?

    How about they just fuck off and go the hell away.

  13. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

    Windows' Bitlocker FDE turned on by default.

    Really? Does the retailer/supplier include the Bitlocker Recovery key too? Or is the user screwed if something changes or breaks? And who else has a record of the PIN and recovery key? Are their systems online and potentially accessible/hackable?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      @John Brown (no body) - Re: Windows' Bitlocker FDE turned on by default.

      That's why MS is forcing you to login with a MS account, so they can store a copy of the encryption key in their cloud. User is screwed in many ways but losing encryption keys is not one of them.

      Me too I don't like FDE without having the control of the keys.

  14. Lil Endian
    Alert

    Devuan: Init Wonderful!

    [Reposting as ancestor deleted, but the package comment may be useful to someone.]

    I'm certainly not opposed to the BSDs, and Slackware was my first Linux distro way-back-when.

    But, it's Devuan for me. Mostly as I prefer apt as a package tool, especially in those rare cases of package dependency issues. There's also an abundance of debs too - backports, sid, Ubuntu's (often more up-to-date than Debian's) - again making pick'n'mix easier for me in time o' trouble. I know debs can be used in Slackware, but I've no need to add the extra layers - I prefer staying with indigenous tools.

    Also XFCE as default, KDE got a bit bloated for me. Again, I know Slackware has XFCE as an option, but my track record for breaking a non-default desktop is, er... admirable?!

    That said, I've not poked around with Slackware for some time - perhaps I'll rectify that.

    I'll conclude with a concise opinion: fuck systemd.

  15. Lee D Silver badge

    <checks to see that systemd is still a pile of shite>

    <reads comments>

    <nods, walks away>

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