i would read it, if medium allowed me...
this post was submitted on 11 Jul 2025
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That was a lot of really good info. I've been having to deal with some more complex systemd configurations at work which has gotten me interested in the subject. This was a really good intro and will help a lot in my own self-hosted activities as well as work.
Thanks bro, just doing my best to keep our kind employed and informed. Long live the machine whisperers
If you’re a new or intermediate Linux user or sysadmin, you might have felt an odd fascination with the myth of systemd. I invite you to this deep dive into systemd's nuts and bolts. I'm not gonna beat around the bush: It's a hairy business, it will be hard, but I promise juicy and satisfying rewards if you keep pumping through this guide.
Let’s start by uncovering the “D” of systemd, the secret sauce that doesn't get the love it deserves: D-Bus.
Okay, those innuendos have to be intentional!
- Take a non-stop Linux box where even the kernel can be patched while it's hot
- Glance at d-bus sideways
- Now you must reboot.
Thank you Ted, that's the joke.
article has a typo. opinion discarded.
/s
systemdeez nuts!
This is the beauty of open source. If you wrote an app called “eeznuts” and mad it something everyone needed, eventually a sysadmin somewhere would get to explain that joke to a stiff EVP, and they’d both have a good chuckle about it.
Ha! Gottem.
Why it is a guide, it's not a visual guide.
I've very barely dipped my toes in dbus before, and the option to have something else is on its face attractive (not a fan of XML and the late 90s/early aughties style of oop), but JSON for a system interface?
I mean, Kubernetes shows that yaml can work, but in this day and age I'd expect several options for serialisation, and for the default to be binary, not strings.
String serialisations are primarily for humans IMO, either as readers or writers. As writers we want something with comments (and preferably no "find the missing }" game), so for that most of us would prefer something like TOML if the data is simple enough, and actually Yaml for complexity at the level of Kubernetes—JSON manages to be even more of a PITA at that level.
But machine-to-machine? Protobuf, cap'n'proto, postcard, even CBOR should all be alternatives to examine
I started reading that because I want to learn more about systemd and ended up wanting to go back to DOS. Presumably it all makes sense, but when I tried to read it my brain stopped working and my eyes slid off the bottom of the screen.
I don't know why but I just found it incomprehensible.
I have yet to read this, but. But the first part is like the internals of systemd, you won't immediately need it.
If you want to make use of systemd, you can skip directly to where it explains unit files. You'll soon see just how much it can do for you
I don't know why but I just found it incomprehensible.
#alwaysHasBeen, but for us graybeards the confusion has been "this is a solution with no problem" and "it's eaten WHAT now?"
As a proper "gray beard" myself the utility of systemd vs. sys-v init scripts has always been blindingly obvious. 🤷
Great article! This helped me understand a lot more about D-Bus.
Informative and informal. Love it!
That title gotta be intentional
the Millie Vanillie of vibe coding if you will..
Systemd is the Kanye West of vibe-coding.
Ayyyyy!
Love systemd thanks for the writeup 👍🏽