The general voting on initialization systems in Debian has begun.
Debian Project about the start (GR, general resolution) of the project developers on , which will determine the future policy of the project regarding the binding to systemd, support for alternative initialization systems, and interaction with derivative distributions that do not use systemd. Voting will continue until December 27 inclusive, with results to be announced on December 28.
Let’s remember that in 2014, the technical committee of the default distribution to systemd, but did not decisions regarding the support of multiple initialization systems (the option indicating the committee's unwillingness to make a decision on this issue won the vote). The committee leader recommended that package maintainers keep support for sysvinit as an alternative initialization system but stated that he cannot impose his views and that decisions should be made independently in each case.
After that, some developers attempted to conduct including the elogind package (needed for GNOME to work without systemd) into the testing branch due to a conflict with libsystemd, the issue was raised again by the leader of the Debian project, as the developers could not reach an agreement, and their communication escalated into opposition and reached a deadlock. Options considered:
The current voting will establish the policy regarding multiple initialization systems, and if the option obligating support for alternative systems wins, maintainers will not be able to ignore or delay such issues. After discussing three initially proposed voting options by the project leader, the number of alternatives was expanded to eight. Voting allows for the selection of several options with ranking of the selected items by preference level. About a thousand developers involved in package maintenance and infrastructure support have the right to vote.
Proposed options:
The primary focus is on systemd. Providing support for alternative init systems is not a priority, but maintainers may optionally include init scripts for such systems in the packages.
Support for various init systems and the ability to boot Debian with init systems different from systemd. To run services, packages must necessarily include init scripts; supplying only systemd unit files without sysv init scripts is unacceptable.
Systemd remains the preferred choice, but there is an opportunity to support alternative init systems. Technologies like elogind, which allow applications tied to systemd to run in alternative environments, are considered important. Init files for alternative systems may be included in the packages.
Support for systems that do not use systemd, without making changes that hinder development. Developers agree to support multiple initialization systems in the foreseeable future, but they also believe it is necessary to work on improving systemd support. The development and maintenance of specific solutions should be handled by communities interested in such solutions, while other maintainers should actively assist and contribute to solving problems as they arise. Ideally, packages should function with any initialization system, for which traditional init scripts can be provided or other mechanisms can be employed to work without systemd. The inability to operate without systemd is considered a flaw, but not a release-blocking flaw, except in cases where a working solution for operating without systemd exists but is refused to be maintained (for example, when the problem is caused by the removal of a previously provided init script).
Support for portability without introducing changes that hinder development. Debian continues to be viewed as a link for integrating various software that provides equivalent or similar functionality. Portability between hardware platforms and software stacks is one of the important tasks, and the integration of alternative technologies is welcomed, even if their creators' views diverge from the general consensus. The position regarding systemd and other initialization systems fully aligns with point 4.
The transition of support for multiple initialization systems to a requirement. Allowing Debian to run with initialization systems other than systemd remains significant for the project. Each package must work with pid1 handlers other than systemd, unless the software included in the package is originally intended to work only with systemd and lacks support for running without systemd (the absence of init scripts is not considered a design for working solely with systemd).
Support for portability and multiple implementations. The general principles fully coincide with point 5, but no specific requirements are imposed regarding systemd and initialization systems, nor are there any obligations placed on developers. Developers are encouraged to consider each other's interests, make compromises, and find common solutions that are satisfactory for various parties.
Continuation of the discussion. The item may be used to lower the ranking of unacceptable options.
