Quoting Simon Hobson (linux@???):

> Rick Moen <rick@???> wrote:
>
> > 'Doing' something that is functionally indistinguishable from doing
> > nothing. And a '000' rights mask would be fully effective paranoia
> > insurance.
>
> Present tense and gaffer tape. Of course, any libsystemd package
> update will rip that gaffer tape off so it's one more thing to keep
> checking/fixing on an ongoing basis.

Well, Works for Me.{tm}

I've only been a senior system administrator for a few decades, so it's
possible that you know this subject a lot better.

If you're worried about the... um... ongoing threat of the... um...
non-function of a library between cron runs, you could set chattr +i
in addition.

But I'm reasonably sure you won't like that, either.

You probably wouldn't even like removing libsystemd0 entirely and
replacing it with an 'equivs' recipe, which could also be done if one
really, really, really were concerned.

But, for those interested in that technique, see: 'How To Satisfy
Debian Dependencies Without Installing The Stupid Package' on
http://shallowsky.com/blog/linux/install/blocking-deb-dependencies.html

(You're welcome!)


> > Are you capable of preventing the installation of package systemd?
> I am. Thus, libsystemd0 does, in end-result, nothing.
>
> Present tense again.

Present tense and practice of system administration. It's totally my
fault for imagining that I've gotten some experience running systems and
learned some useful tricks. Probably a misperception on my part.

> Can you, with crystal ball, 100% guarantee that something like
> libsystemd won't get "feature enhanced" at some point ?

Can you, with crystal ball, 100% guarantee that I won't deal with my
system to effectively apply local policy using regular open source
practices? I've done it for only a couple of decades on Linux, so it's
probably just a total fluke that I've gotten away with it so far.


> I understand that you don't see much point to Devuan because clearly
> for you, gaffer tape works fine.

Duct tape, actually. It's like the Force. It has a light side and a
dark side, and it holds the universe together.

Duct tape is cool.

You seem to be big on high-drama, apocalyptic predictions. And indeed
the sky may indeed be soon to fall, the stars in their alignment, and
dread Cthulhu and the Deep Ones stirring in R'lyeh. Metaphorically, at
least. (Sorry, I've been reading Charlie Stross's latest Laundry Files
book.)

I've switched Linux distributions several times before, for good and
compelling reasons at the time. It'll probably end up doing it again.
But I'll bet it won't be over libsystemd0. Because, really.

> And one more thing. You've argued about (or at least discussed) the %
> of packages dependent on systemd. When you came up with your
> 90-something percent, was that direct dependencies, or did you account
> for A depends on B, B depends on C, C depends on D, and D depends on
> systemd ?

The latter, of course. And this is documented on my Web page, by the
way.

I might have missed some dependency chains, because it was a great deal of
information to collate and HTMLise -- but I listed all of the ones I
found through iterative runs using apt-cache. Please kindly advise of
any I missed, and I will be delighted to correct the omission, and credit
you for the help.