this post was submitted on 29 Jun 2023
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
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As an end user, unless you're running a server, then no you shouldn't have to mess with any of it.
If you're running a server or a sysadmin you absolutely 100% should be paying attention. Almost every single vendor I've seen selling their applications only have initscripts. Which then cause issues. I've gone to the vendors and told them and they've said go to Red Hat. Well Red Hat doesn't support that vendor's init scripts.
Not naming an application, but it was from a BIG BLUE company and they said their only instructions are to call their script from the user. But it won't remain running if you do that because systemd will close out the slice when the user logs out. SO it's obvious they haven't tried what they're suggesting.
And I'm not attempting to state that systemd is impressive in any way. systemd basically took what had been building over 40 years of init scripting and threw it out the window and said our way is better. I don't think it is. I'm just saying, with a directive based unit file it'll be simpler to parse than a bash script.
Yeah, the landscape changes if you're a professional sysadmin running multiple servers with uptime requirements, and possibly proprietary software or unusual hardware. I contend that that is, in and of itself, not the most common use case. 😉