Open Letter to the Linux World

it's not that it's not perfect - it's dangerous and fundamentally NOT in the spirit of *NIX. It does not makes things better - it makes things more like Windows and Apple. If you feel Windows and/or Apple are better, then I suggest you use them instead. What many younger people seem to think is that Free == no cost. Freedom is about choice and control over your own destiny. systemd is an affront to all of the things GNU/Linux has stood for for two decades. It's been adopted because the main desktop environment has gotten in bed with systemd and now depends on it. I would urge you to think about it in terms of how this adoption will limit choice in the future, and ultimately cede control of literally all of Linux's underpinnings to a single entity. Has nothing Snowden revealed gotten into your head yet?

systemd seems bloated and could not be cleanly replaced.

I'm using arch linux, even if I removed systemd completely, all daemon-related packages would still install systemd configuration files.

I'm praying at the alter of simplicity too. Replacing shell scripts, daemonizing techniques, supervisord, and tools to drop privilege more easily with .service files makes adding services simpler.

Why post a link to that here? systemd is not perfect, but it's a well-designed and competent piece of work that makes things better for users, developers, and admins. It's been adopted by most distributions now, which must indicate merit. As a developer and user, on balance I'm delighted by the Debian Foundation's decision.