344

Surge in Systemd forks after the latest changes (github.com)

submitted 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) by pglpm@lemmy.ca to c/linux@programming.dev

234 comments fedilink hide all child comments

The latest changes implemented in the Systemd repo, related to or prompted by age-verification laws, have made many people unhappy (I suppose links about this aren't necessary). This has led to a surge in Systemd forks during the last days ("surge" because there have always been plenty of forks). Here are some forks that explicitly mention those changes as their reason for forking (rough time ordering taken from the fork page):

paramazo/systemd "The systemd System and Service Manager without age verification"
ganitam/systemd "Systemd fork just before the Age Verification addition. Hoping more capable developers and maintainers do same.."
GSYT-Productions/systemd-fork "The systemd System and Service Manager, without the stupid Age Verification"
speedythesnail/unret arded-systemd "The systemd System and Service Manager, without the ret arded age-verification commits"
ta13579/systemd "The systemd System and Service Manager WITHOUT THE FUCKING AGE CHECKS"
r4shsec/systemd-no-age-verification "This is systemd but without the age verification made via pull request https://github.com/systemd/systemd/pull/40978"
Pingasmaster/fightthesystemd "Systemd without the nonsense: no age verification, no lighthouse built-in."
Jeffrey-Sardina/system "Liberated systemd -- no surveillance. Ever."
HaplessIdiot/systemd-saneagecheck "The systemd System and Service Manager with age verification bypass and polling rate options for said feature"
Queer-Coded-LGBTQ/systemd-fuck-california "The systemd System and Service Manager, but without age bs added in."
Codiak540/unshitted-systemd "A fork of systemd aiming to strip the Age verification. Sue me california."

Hopefully the energy of this reaction won't be scattered among too many alternatives, although some amount of scattering is always good.

top 50 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

[-] hodgepodgin@lemmy.zip 141 points 4 days ago

Nothing more dramatic than Linux users angry-forking a repository

[-] zero_spelled_with_an_ecks@programming.dev 50 points 4 days ago

As somebody that uses valkey, I'm happy there's drama.

[-] EmK@lemmy.ca 52 points 4 days ago

Yup, and MariaDB, and LibreOffice, and Nextcloud...

load more comments (1 replies)

[-] codiak540@lemmy.ca 77 points 3 days ago

Hi! I'm actually the creator of unshitted-systemd (the one at the bottom of the list). I had my eye on systemd for a few weeks due to the whole AI code fiasco, but the second my friend DM'ed me saying "they just added age verification" I said "I'm forking it", forked it, stripped the DoB field, and submitted a PR

Not even an hour later my PR was closed due to being "Spam".

So I went further, stripped all the AI code, the realName field for User Accounts, and started fixing issues that haven't been fixed by systemd themselves. I also saw a 4.5 second boot time speedup from installing mine. I have NO IDEA how, but it's happened.

I plan on going further and taking out parts that go against user privacy and control over their system (I.E: systemd makes the /etc read only by default, I've removed that code in my fork)

I can't do this on my own though, if anyone wants to help, please let me know! you can email me at codiak540@bbs.4d2.org, or contact me through github. You might be able to DM me on this platform idk I'm new to it, and my discord is @codiak540

If the original description hasn't made it clear, I'm not afraid of California. I don't live in California and as such believe I am not subject to their stupid laws. Keep that in mind if you're considering helping me.

[-] fruitcantfly@programming.dev 24 points 3 days ago

I also saw a 4.5 second boot time speedup from installing mine. I have NO IDEA how, but it’s happened.

If I saw a speedup that I didn’t understand, then I’d worry that I had accidentally broken something. It’s easy to get speedups by not doing things correctly

load more comments (5 replies)

[-] far_university1990@reddthat.com 32 points 3 days ago

We will watch your career with great interest

[-] robbo@programming.dev 25 points 3 days ago

well you've already won from the marketing point of view compared to the others because yours isn't a shit (lol) name

load more comments (4 replies)

[-] communism@lemmy.ml 27 points 3 days ago

Good luck trying to maintain the mammoth that is systemd... why not just switch to an alternative init system and focus your efforts on contributing to those, instead of trying to single-handedly maintain such a huge codebase?

load more comments (13 replies)

[-] mrbigmouth502@piefed.zip 16 points 3 days ago

This is one of the beautiful things about open source. If the original devs do something stupid, the community can fork.

load more comments (1 replies)

[-] randamumaki@lemmy.blahaj.zone 94 points 4 days ago

It's almost like the latest changes are unpopular or something... /s

load more comments (15 replies)

[-] drmoose@lemmy.world 8 points 2 days ago

Out of the loop:

The systemd project merged a pull request adding a new birthDate field to the JSON user records managed by userdb, in response to age verification laws in California, Colorado, and Brazil.

Lennart Poettering clarified that this is an optional field in the userdb JSON object — not a policy engine, not an API for apps. It just defines the field so it's standardized if people want to store the date there, but it's entirely optional. Systemd itself does nothing with the data.

What a nothing burger

[-] Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world 9 points 2 days ago

In response to German purity laws, IBM has added an optional field to their citizen database. It just defines a field "Is Jewish" so it's standardized, but entirely optional. IBM does nothing with the data.

What a nothing burger.

[-] rumba@lemmy.zip 23 points 2 days ago

It's not nothing, freedom is often taken by inches.

load more comments (17 replies)

load more comments (1 replies)

[-] Uncut_Lemon@lemmy.world 20 points 3 days ago

It's more the question of why is everyone folding to this age verification nonsense. One dumb state makes a law, now everyone is bending over backwards to comply. A state full of corruption no less, like what are the alteria motives.

Maybe parents should start, parenting their kids, rather than making the government parent them.

[-] Digit@lemmy.wtf 2 points 2 days ago

Pedo billionaires really want to protect your children, by knowing who the children are when they're doing their tracking. Makes it easier for them. Trust them, don't think about it. Maybe they care.

load more comments (4 replies)

[-] mech@feddit.org 54 points 4 days ago

Systemd still has no age verification, so all those forks are absolutely pointless.
If and when Systemd adds age verification, I'll move away from it.
But the recent change adds literally nothing. Just leave the field blank, like you always did with those for your home address and full name.
The age field is malicious compliance. It satisfies the letter of the law while being completely and deliberately useless for its purpose.

load more comments (26 replies)

[-] mereo@piefed.ca 56 points 4 days ago

Let's be realistic. All these forks will get us nowhere because systemd has become a platform on which major components of the Linux system depend. KDE's new login depends on systemd, as does Gnome.

These forks are just a reaction to the latest addition. They will fizzle out.