[arch-general] My end-user $0.02 on /etc/rc.conf splitting.

[Sébastien Leblanc]

For having used systemd myself, I am inclined to believe that it
definitely fits the KISS principle. Systemctl is only a frontend to
simplify the addition and removal of services. Simplicity is only a
matter of learning new commands (systemctl enable <daemon>.service,
e.g.). What systemctl really does when you enable a service is that it
creates symbolic links in /etc/systemd/system/<target>.wants.target/
that point to appropriate deamon launch helpers located in
/usr/lib/systemd/system/. The proper target folder (graphical,
multi-user, single-user) is obtained by reading the actual target
file, but this can be overridden if you do the links manually.

What I find really powerful of systemd is that it hooks onto the
daemon itself and monitors exit codes and log files. Finding what's
wrong with your sshd service is only a matter of typing "systemctl
status sshd.service". You get current activity, its PID, the actual
command it ran to start it, its status code if it ceased working, and
the few last lines from the log file.

To find out what runs at startup, you may use systemctl. I don't know
the particular command, so I don't use it myself. I managed to figure
out how to do it in a couple of seconds: you only have to "ls" the
right directory. Graphical mode? "ls
/etc/systemd/system/graphical.target.wants". Multi-user: "ls
multi-user.target.wants". Could not be simpler.

I have also found that my system boots much more rapidly with systemd.
I can have a fully logged-in system running XFCE4, on older hardware
(Intel Pentium 64-bit laptop) in less that 40 seconds.

-- 
Sébastien Leblanc