In order to stylistically adapt mason's latest contribution to the free
software page, to reduce redundancy (minimalism rules! Word count-44
from 275 to 231) and to end on a more positive note that reinforces the
concept of modular free software, I have taken some time to offer an
alternate version. Suggestions for improvement welcome. Original posted
below. Thank you mason. :)

golinux

====================================================================

Historically, one of the unique attributes of the free software movement
has been the modular nature of system components. Anyone could write a
replacement for an existing component and if the software they wrote was
reliable and presented novel features, it might become the preferred
solution
for a particular task. Over time, contributions from a large, diverse
group
of free software developers created an extensive collection of code that
gave
users many choices to serve almost any function - mailers, loggers, web
servers, process monitors, domain name system software - with the list
going
on nearly indefinitely. The flexibility, suitability and variety of free
software has made it the preferred platform for writing and running
software
services of all types.

Contrary to the Unix philosophy to "do one thing and do it well",
systemd
seeks to do all things. By offering tightly-integrated modules that are
heavily
dependent upon one another rather than adhering to portable, proven,
multi-
vendor POSIX standards honed through decades of developer experience
running
complex, critical, real-world computer systems, systemd seeks to define
a new,
defacto standard.

As operating systems continue to embrace systemd, tightly-integrated
modules
that are heavily dependent upon one another, are increasingly denying
users the
freedom to substitute alternate free software components to perform the
same
function. Devuan and other non-systemd operating systems are continuing
to
provide modular free software and init freedom.

====================================================================

One of the unique attributes of the free software world historically has
been the modular nature of system components. There was opportunity for
anyone with an interest in doing so to write a replacement for a
component, and if the software they wrote was reliable and presented
novel
features, it might become the preferred solution for that particular
task.
The end result of this was that a wide variety of code from a large,
diverse group of free software developers saw use in many systems,
giving
free software users a choice in what software they used. Because of
this,
we have a number of excellent free software solutions to serve almost
every function - mailers of various sorts, loggers, web servers, process
monitors, domain name system software, with the list going on nearly
indefinitely, and this flexibility and suitability has made free
software
the preferred platform for writing and running software services of all
types.

One of the issues with systemd is that, contrary to the Unix philosophy
of
"do one thing and do it well", systemd seeks to do all things, and to
explicitly crowd out other software by offering tightly-integrated
modules
that are heavily dependent upon one another. As operating systems
integrate systemd, the temptation exists to run more and more systemd
code, with each piece being difficult to replace individually given
systemd's lack of interest in portability or standards compliance.
Systemd
seeks to define a new, defacto standard, controlled by the relatively
small and isolated group of systemd developers, rather than adhering to
portable, proven, multi-vendor POSIX standards, honed through decades of
experience running complex, critical, real-world computer systems.