Quoting fsmithred (fsmithred@???):

> Yeah, I know there's a lot of gnome in xfce, and gnome virtual file
> system does sound familiar. Happily, I've been getting along fine
> without gvfs since upgrading to devuan jessie about six months ago.
> I'm ok with xfce like this, and I'm ok with a plain window manager.
> I've used several in the past.
>
> In fact, the experiment was a success. I wanted to test the often
> repeated assertion that libsystemd0 doesn't do anything if systemd is
> not installed. Now I know that it's not true. You provided information
> that helped me do that. Thank you for posting it.

You're entirely welcome.

Saying libsystemd0 'does something' merely because higher-layer GNOME
code probed it for a function and then decided to do or not do something
based on what it found (my high-confidence surmise about your gvfs
anecdote) entails very peculiar construing of the verb 'to do' -- and
I'm pretty sure hardly anyone else uses the verb quite that way.

That would be like saying I 'did something' while asleep because someone
recorded my snoring and then used a clip of it as rhythm line for a pop
song. (Polyrhythmic, no doubt.)

Again, my reaction to such things (such as you mentioned, not to my
snoring) would be (and is) to kick GNOME and anything sharing its core
-- such as MATE, Cinnamon, Unity, or XFCE -- to the curb (or kerb, on
the civilised side of the Atlantic[1]), but suit yourself, of course.

[1] http://grammarist.com/spelling/curb-kerb/