Innovation in the Linux environment

Usable State

Stateless Linux should make it possible for distributions to store all relevant files in /usr . These systems should start themselves when the /etc and /var directories are empty. In this case, there is a standard configuration available for systemd. Corresponding systems do not permanently save states. They always start in the same predefined state, and systemd creates files in /etc and /var before those programs that are dependent on the files in /etc start.

Poettering sees the advantage to stateless systems in that software providers no longer have to adapt their programs to the libraries of distributions. Instead, providers can deliver a suitable run-time environment. This makes it possible to install packages regardless of the distribution.

Updates occur atomically and there is allowance for the possibility of rollbacks [16]. Security is increased due to a chain of trust that extends from the firmware via the bootloader all the way up to the kernel. This approach brings distributions from all areas including desktop, server, and cloud closer together. Nonetheless, this has not been cause for celebration in the Linux world. As with systemd, opponents are concerned that some of the standardization envisioned will block other developments.

Kdbus

Kdbus [17] is another building block used by the ranks of systemd developers. However, developers responsible for the kernel have refused to accept Kdbus for the time being. The issue is that a mechanism for interprocess communication (IPC), like D-Bus [18], would need to be anchored directly in the kernel. According to the developers supporting the use of Kdbus, their approach would increase speed greatly and permit the exchange of data between processors in volumes reaching into the gigabits. They maintain that this type of capability would be important for further development of systemd.

These developers are presumably no longer committed to the D-Bus idea for this mechanism after the criticism leveled by Linus Torvalds and others. Instead, they are tending more towards an open architecture.