[sf-lug] Byfield's "Verdict" on systemd

[Akkana Peck]

Rick Moen writes:
> Quoting Alex Kleider (akleider at sonic.net):
> 
> > I don't have any "discontent", and I'm not so much "fretting" as
> > wondering what might be suggested in the way of something with less,
> > call it 'bloat' if you will.  Booting up my laptop (Lenovo ThinkPad
> > X301 as mentioned) seems to take an inordinately long time- I've
> > assumed (rightly or wrongly, I'm not sure) that this was because there
> > is a lot being loaded, much, if not most, of which I never use.
> 
> So, your next logical step would be investigate what is being launched at
> bootup time, and (for each) why, right?  

Leaving aside the rest of Rick's excellent advice, I might approach
this from a slightly different direction:

Alex, it sounds like Ubuntu is working for you but you have a sense
that it's bloated, it has a lot of stuff you don't need, in
particular on the desktop, but maybe elsewhere too; and you'd like
to learn more about that, so you have a better sense of what you do
and don't need, and how to control it all. Is that right?

If so, without leaving Ubuntu, here's a project you might find fun
and enlightening. It has two steps:

1. On you current system, experiment with several lightweight window
managers, such as Openbox, Fluxbox, FVWM, Ratpoison etc. (I'm a fan
of Openbox myself, but there are lots of good options). See if any
of them feel more natural to you. Spend some time: it will take at
least a few days of fiddling with configuration for each one to see
what it's capable of and to get a configuration that suits you.
Optionally, also pick a favorite terminal client that isn't
gnome-terminal (for instance, xterm, urxvt, etc.).

2. On a separate machine, a separate partition, or in a virtual
machine, install a copy of Ubuntu Server (or, if you prefer, a
Debian "net install"), without the desktop. Then install
xserver-xorg, your window manager of choice, your terminal
program of choice, and any other programs you know you use a
lot (vim, emacs, firefox, ...)

Now you have a minimal system, and you can add more pieces as you
need them. You'll learn a lot about what you actually use and need,
you'll learn a bit about system administration, and you'll get a
smaller, lighter, faster-booting system.

It's also enlightening to see the dependencies when you add new
packages. For instance, adding certain Gnome or KDE programs may
require 80 extra packages that you were running quite happily without.
And there's nothing wrong with pulling in all those packages if it's
a program you really need and you choose to do it; but this way,
you'll be aware that it's happening. It gives you a much better
feel for how different packages and libraries interrelate.

Incidentally, none of this advice has anything to do with systemd,
but if you ever decide you want to try installing a systemd-free
system, it's probably easier if you start from a minimal system like
the Debian net install.

        ...Akkana