[Novalug] systemd-homed? thoughts?

Nick Danger nick@hackermonkey.com
Thu Apr 30 13:54:28 EDT 2020


On 4/30/20 10:50 AM, Peter Larsen via Novalug wrote:
>
> Btw. can someone explain why saying /etc/shadow isn't sufficient is
> self-centered?? If indeed someone outside this talking head said so -
> still, why would such a statement be self-centered? Does (s)he know what
> Lennart thinks about?


There is a major assumption here, that your problems (or Lennarts 
problems) are my problems. THAT is what I am saying is self-centered.  
/etc/shadow might well be sufficient for some instances. Assuming 
problems you have are universal is extremely self-centered. Assuming 
problems you have are bigger than just you is fine. There is a big leap 
from 'some people have this problem' or even 'lots of people have 
problem this problem' to 'EVERYONE has problem this problem'.  I do not 
need, nor want, containerized home directories. Why did someone assume I 
did? Hopefully that clears up what I was saying.


> That's a new take on the pets vs. cattle analogy for sure. Unfortunately
> computing is moving towards the cattle side of the equation. It's not
> really about the individual host anymore - they're easily replaced. It's
> about the work-loads.


Yes, I meant cattle/pet, not cows/dogs. My mistake. Not everyones 
compute is cattle.


> (I said the below)
>> We might be the centers in our own universes, but we
>> aren't the center of THE universe.
> Again, I feel lost here. I cannot make sense of this in context.
>

Maybe this will make it clearer. I am not you. You are not me. We have 
different needs and requirements. We have different desired outcomes. We 
both deal with our perceived realities in the most effective way we can. 
But they are not the same, and neither is 100% the truth. Maybe that 
concept was a little to zen and abstract. What I am saying is having 
Linux as a customizable tool to solve lots of problems in lots of 
situations, yours or mine, is good. SystemD has a way of pigeon holing 
us into something that fits into a single situation, and while it works 
great in that single situation, its not so great in other situations.  
To keep with the cattle/pet analogy, Linux used to be and for the most 
part still is, so generic/customizable it was more like saying "mammal" 
than saying specifically cattle or pet. Now it seems all I can get is 
cattle. And I don't want cattle. I might be in a minority and the 
solution might be 'Go to Free/OpenBSD then'.

-Nick







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