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Is systemd on or off topic here ?

From the wiki page - https://wiki.ubuntu.com/systemd#Warning.21_Experimental_code

Warning! Experimental code

systemd is under active development in Ubuntu although the rough plan would be to default to systemd during development of 15.04. If you want to help it's best to be running 15.04. (14.10 might be doable as well..)

I would think 15.04 is ubuntu +1 and thus off topic as per the FAQ.

We getting tons of questions on this topic , see

Unable to boot after installing systemd-services and changing the init parameter on boot

And there is even

How can I replace upstart with systemd?

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  • But systemd seems to be partial in use see the output of ps -ef|grep systemd on my unmodified installation: /lib/systemd/systemd-udevd --daemon /lib/systemd/systemd-logind
    – LittleByBlue
    Commented Jan 4, 2015 at 10:06

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
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I have no idea why they say that systemd is "Experimental code" when is considered stable enough to land in the next iteraction of Debian Jessie as their main init system.

What it is experimental is the integration of systemd with Ubuntu, or the use of the PPA instead of the main repositories, and even so, I have a functional systemd Ubuntu installation of Trusty with GDM/Gnome 3/Gnome Shell (upgraded from Raring), and haven´t found any partypooper problem yet.

Bugs caused by the itteraction of systemd with Ubuntu, like trying to install two DM´s at the same time and both infunctional, is off topic, as they should be addresed by developers. Asking about how to use systemd, replace the system init provider from upstart to systemd, etc. are on topic, as they can be addressed by users and aren´t actual problems that are best served by developers intervention.

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  • The quote "experimental code" comes directly from the Ubuntu wiki, I gave the quote and the reference in the question. I think we agree that systemd is not yet integrated with ubuntu , and thus it's use on Ubuntu is experimental (at least you stated such in your answer - "What it is experimental is the integration of systemd with Ubuntu" - thus my question - is the use of systemd supported here on askubuntu as of yet ?
    – Panther
    Commented Dec 25, 2014 at 20:42
  • For the record, systemd works on Fedora and Arch with multiple DE (I have gnome-shell, xfce, kde, fluxbox, and openbox currently installed an running just fine on Fedora using systemd).
    – Panther
    Commented Dec 25, 2014 at 20:43
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    @bodhi.zazen I´ve seen several incongruencies in Ubuntu Wiki. For all propose and both questions you make reference to "replacing upstart with systemd" and the boot issue, are on topic, because the problem isn´t caused by an issue that requires developer intervention. Both are the expected behavior ergo, they are neither bugs nor require developer intervention, but better user guidance, which is what AU provides.
    – Braiam
    Commented Dec 25, 2014 at 20:47
  • I agree that there may be inconsistencies on the wiki, same here. The official ubuntu wiki, however, is clear on this point - "Installing systemd in Ubuntu may limit the amount of help and support available to you. If you have a commercial support agreement then installing systemd would almost certainly invalidate it. Even if you rely on forums etc, you will probably have to reproduce problems on a standard Ubuntu build before anyone can help you much." - thus the question, what is the policy here, on this site. I am not trying to start a flame war.
    – Panther
    Commented Dec 25, 2014 at 20:53
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    I agree with this answer. There are aspects of systemd that would be off-topic, (ie bugs) but that's the same with all software. There are also questions about systemd that I think are ok, like the second example in your question, or a different post I came across earlier about how to configure the network in systemd. Those should certainly be on-topic IMO.I know someone who uses Fedora that has used systemd for over a year now, I think "unstable" is inaccurate, although the implementation in Ubuntu might be a bit buggy. Bugs, as always, are off-topic, but non bug questions should be fine, IMO
    – Seth Mod
    Commented Dec 26, 2014 at 3:35
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I'd say that's similar to custom compiled kernels or mainline kernels, which are off-topic as far as I am aware. At least that would make sense from the support perspective.

As you said in one of the comments, there are other distributions available that have already integrated systemd and which would be more appropriate to study systemd.

I wouldn't say it's off-topic because it's Ubuntu+1, but a core software component that's not completely integrated and ready for and Ubuntu release. Users wanting to try out systemd, like users who want to try out Ubuntu+1, should get involved in bug reporting instead of posting here.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

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  • I would agree with that, I am suggesting a consistent policy in managing systemd questions, perhaps updating the FAQ as systemd is coming ...
    – Panther
    Commented Dec 25, 2014 at 20:44
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    The questions bodhi refers to would be inmediatly closed/marked as Invalid by the developers, since they don´t have anything to fix.
    – Braiam
    Commented Dec 25, 2014 at 20:48
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    Custom kernels do not alone constitute off-topic, although I DID argue that they should. See meta
    – RobotHumans
    Commented Dec 25, 2014 at 22:14
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    I disagree as outlined in my comment below.
    – Seth Mod
    Commented Dec 26, 2014 at 3:36

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