Yes source based distro's have been around since the very beginning - in fact, MCC Interim Linux and #SLS weren't far from that mark, except that they merely tried to make it a bit more convenient by packaging up tarballs to be exploded during installation. And there's always #LFS.

If you think about Slackpkg - and you consider that you can actually re-install the entire system by compiling every single component of the default (full) install with the evocation of a single command, followed by the customization of your entire system by installing every kind of software imaginable through the use of #sbopkg or some other automated, dependency resolving package manager that uses #SlackBuilds (which are downloaded, then exectuted, and subsequently download the latest release of he software package desired, which is in turn compiled, packaged, and exploded) - you actually have a fully source based distro installed on your box.

That's right - Slackware is (can be forced to be) an entirely source based distro installed on your device.

And choosing to convert from a point release to Slackware -current switches you from a point release to a #Rolling_Release distro.

*Debian Testing, aka at this time, Trixie is a rolling release. #Arch_Linux is a rolling release, SourceMage and Lunar Linux are source based distros based on #Sorcerer_Linux, the original fully source based Linux distro released when Linux was only about 8yrs old in 2000, and the #Gentoo or #Funtoo source based Linux distros.

SystemD my ass. That has nothing to do with nothing in that conversation - it's completely non-sequitur and truth be told, most source based distros (Arch, Gentoo) support the type of init system that *YOU CHOOSE. For Debiantards such as myself, well..... There's #Devuan - and that's very refreshing to actually have control over your system again with true init scripts. But I rarely use Devuan, even though I've been associated with the initiative since its inception, after leaving the #Mageia team several years ago.

As I state in almost all of my profiles, I'm a Slacker, since 1993 (Slackware Linux), and I'm also a bit of a #Debiantard. On the BSD side, after leaving #Jolix (386BSD) for Slackware, I've pretty much settled on either #OpenBSD or #Dragonfly_BSD, w/the awesome #HAMMER2 FS. I still have a lot of love for #FreeBSD and of course #NetBSD - where I spend a lot of time in my proper #Korn Shell....

But what the heck does any of this have to do with a comparison of using Gentoo Linux being akin to using SystemD?

I don't like SystemD - but if you're a realist, that doesn't mean you forgo using distros that only have that init tooling. You just roll with the punches and keep following the innovations that support you - NO ONE STILL RUNS WINDOWS XP in production - at least, no one outside of state mental hospitals, that's just insane to do in a forward facing business environment.

But a lot of companies do leverage OpenRC, SysVinit, etc., instead of SystemD - that's not going away, and SystemD itself and Poetering have their own up and coming challengers.

SystemD is (supposed to be, originally) a way to boot your box. Yes, it's indeed encroached upon other landscapes since, but not all of those constructs are even considered by many mainstream distros - it's not a fact of life. Other init systems thrive in the UNIX world to this day and will continue to do so.

Likewise, Source based Linux distros are just one among many distros that exist, and may or may not leverage SystemD as their init systems - to really get a good grasp of this, I recommend doing a few Arch Linux installs - with and without SystemD as the base init system. Heck, even Debian still supports your regular, good old #syslog, and at every turn during your updates, reminds you how to keep it enabled since the whole journalctl crap just isn't as elegant, IMO.

Personally, I think more concurrent options are usually better - space is cheap. Storage no longer costs a dollar a meg. or worse, like it was when I was a kid, a few thousand dollars a meg. That's right... MegaByte - Not TB for penny's!

Okay so now I'm waiting to hear back from the OP and see just what the heck they meant when I got triggered. In the meantime....

Enjoy installing and using #Sorcerer_Linux, or the subesquent forks of it's surviving lineage like #SourceMage and #Lunar_Linux - you're now a part of mainstream source-basedLinux History once you do 🤘 💀 🤘

#tallship #Linux #FOSS #distros #Sorcerer

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RE: https://social.sdf.org/users/tallship/statuses/111957857148746923

@tallship