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The KDE project is addressing recent concerns that they are forcing systemd on current or future versions of its Plasma desktop environment.
This comes after the developers of the KaOS Linux independent distro announced that they decided to replace the KDE Plasma desktop environment with a Niri/Noctalia setup to move away from systemd, saying that “Plasma pretty much demands systemd, and will be fully mandatory soon.“
Modern Linux relies heavily on systemd, with it serving as the default init system (PID 1)
for the vast majority of major distributions,including Debian, Fedora, Alma Linux, Rocky Linux, Ubuntu, OpenSUSE, CachyOS. While it is not strictly required by the Linux kernel itself,it has become the standard, integrated base system for management.
Here is a breakdown of how much Linux relies on systemd:
1. Ubiquity and Core Functionality
PID 1 (Init System): Systemd starts as PID 1 immediately after the kernel boots, managing the startup, shutdown, and supervision of all other processes.Mass Adoption: It is the default in almost all mainstream desktop and server distributions. Beyond Init: Systemd is a suite of tools (over 69 binaries) that covers logging (journald), device management (udevd), network configuration (networkd), and user sessions (logind). Resource Management: It uses cgroups (control groups) v2 to manage resources (CPU, memory, I/O) for services, which is deeply integrated into modern Linux kernel features.
2. Deep Integration and Dependencies
Service Management: It uses unit files (.service, .socket, .mount, .timer) to manage services and dependencies,
making it hard to replace without changing how software is packaged.Desktop Environments: Major desktop environments like GNOME are heavily reliant on systemd components (like logind or dbus) for session management, making running them without systemd difficult. Log Management: journald is the default logging mechanism, replacing or supplementing traditional syslog. Cron Replacement: Systemd timers are frequently used to replace traditional cron jobs for scheduling tasks.
3. Areas of Low Reliance (Alternatives)
While dominant, systemd is not universal. Some specialized distributions avoid it, particularly in embedded
or server environments that prioritize a "do one thing and do it well" philosophy (Unix philosophy).
Alternatives: Systems like Slackware and Gentoo use System V init, while Alpine Linux uses OpenRC.
Others may use runit or dinit. Embedded Systems: Due to its size (roughly 1.3 million lines of code in 2020), some embedded devices may use lighter alternatives, although systemd is increasingly used there too.
In summary, for the average Linux user or administrator, systemd is indispensable, as the entire operating
system base is configured to revolve around its components.
Distributions That Do Not Use systemd
Because systemd is modular, several distributions explicitly avoid it to maintain a smaller footprint
or adhere to the Unix philosophy:
Alpine Linux: Uses OpenRC and is popular for lightweight containers.
Gentoo: Offers OpenRC as a default but supports systemd as an option.
Slackware: Uses traditional BSD-style init scripts.
Artix and Devuan: Forks of Arch and Debian, respectively, created specifically
to provide versions of those distros without systemd.
Android: Uses its own custom init system and does not rely on systemd at all.
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Here is a breakdown of how much Linux relies on systemd:
1. Ubiquity and Core Functionality PID 1 (Init System): Systemd starts as PID 1 immediately after the kernel boots, managing the startup, shutdown, and supervision of all other processes.Mass Adoption: It is the default in almost all mainstream desktop and server distributions. Beyond Init: Systemd is a suite of tools (over 69 binaries) that covers logging (journald), device management (udevd), network configuration (networkd), and user sessions (logind). Resource Management: It uses cgroups (control groups) v2 to manage resources (CPU, memory, I/O) for services, which is deeply integrated into modern Linux kernel features.
2. Deep Integration and Dependencies Service Management: It uses unit files (.service, .socket, .mount, .timer) to manage services and dependencies, making it hard to replace without changing how software is packaged.Desktop Environments: Major desktop environments like GNOME are heavily reliant on systemd components (like logind or dbus) for session management, making running them without systemd difficult. Log Management: journald is the default logging mechanism, replacing or supplementing traditional syslog. Cron Replacement: Systemd timers are frequently used to replace traditional cron jobs for scheduling tasks.
3. Areas of Low Reliance (Alternatives) While dominant, systemd is not universal. Some specialized distributions avoid it, particularly in embedded or server environments that prioritize a "do one thing and do it well" philosophy (Unix philosophy). Alternatives: Systems like Slackware and Gentoo use System V init, while Alpine Linux uses OpenRC. Others may use runit or dinit. Embedded Systems: Due to its size (roughly 1.3 million lines of code in 2020), some embedded devices may use lighter alternatives, although systemd is increasingly used there too.
In summary, for the average Linux user or administrator, systemd is indispensable, as the entire operating system base is configured to revolve around its components.
Distributions That Do Not Use systemd
Because systemd is modular, several distributions explicitly avoid it to maintain a smaller footprint or adhere to the Unix philosophy:
Alpine Linux: Uses OpenRC and is popular for lightweight containers. Gentoo: Offers OpenRC as a default but supports systemd as an option. Slackware: Uses traditional BSD-style init scripts. Artix and Devuan: Forks of Arch and Debian, respectively, created specifically to provide versions of those distros without systemd. Android: Uses its own custom init system and does not rely on systemd at all.