Linux 4.5-rc5: efivarfs fixed to avoid “rm -rf /” bricking UEFI

Ok, so I was wrong when I said Lennart Pottering's original response was "pretty appalling".

Unlikely he saw it, but my apologies nonetheless.

Poettering gets shit on a lot. While his software does often have problems, he is really well-intentioned and working on really hard things that really do need fixing. New software simply has bugs and problems, and while the transition period can be rough, I think things will be really improved when we break through to the other side.

While systemd bugs are often cause for rejoice and schadenfreude by its critics, I think you're underestimating the argument. "The other side", that is, the vision that the Poettering et all have for the Linux environment is the issue that the critics have against systemd, not the bugs and other occasional issues.

I say as someone still ambivalent, not pro nor against it.

People don't hate systemd because it has bugs. People hate it because it's clear that it thinks it owns your system and that its manifest destiny is to contain all software that exists.

This is obviously hyperbolic.

No, they hate it because they think hating it is a good way to troll people.

It isn't honest hatred, it's just dancing around making ugly faces, like a six-year-old.

I really like systemd, but I think that's not accurate. People have well thought through reasons for disliking systemd

However, "it's clear that it thinks it owns your system and that its manifest destiny is to contain all software that exists" is not one of those well-thought-through reasons :P

I don't disagree :-)

It would be hilarious for it to take over LibreOffice or FireFox.

What is the reason that systemd has to include a bootloader (bootctl -- which was gummiboot)? Why does it include a container engine (nspawn)? Why does it think that it should control all logging on your system (the whole journalctl monstrosity)?

Yes, it might've been hyperbole, but the fact that systemd has so much code inside it which has nothing to do with "being an init system" just begs the question "why?".

Well, it's already taken over your logging system (storing things in a binary format, which means you're fucked if it gets corrupted), your bootloader, top, it provides an alternative container runtime, etc. It's just a matter of time. :P