Dinit: an alternative new "init"
Room B | Mon 20 Jan 10:45 a.m.–11:30 a.m.
Presented by
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Davin McCall
https://davmac.org/
Davin is a software engineer with a background ranging from telecommunications, to programming education, to software analysis and security. He enjoys programming at the systems level, and has made minor contributions to open-source projects such as the Linux kernel, Mesa 3D graphics library, and Wine (Windows compatibility layer), but is probably best known in the open-source world for his own "Dinit" service-manager software, an alternative to Systemd (and the other less-prevalent init systems) that is now used in the Chimera Linux distribution.
He currently works for Oracle Labs in Brisbane, in the area of program analysis for security. He develops tools for both static analysis and runtime application self-protection.
Outside of computer software and hardware, his interests include nature and the environment. He loves rock climbing and his preferred mode of transport is bicycle.
Davin McCall
https://davmac.org/
Abstract
Since 2015 (according to Wikipedia), the majority of Linux distributions have used systemd as primary service manager and "init". Systemd was a significant evolutionary step, and it paved the way for a number of improvements in Linux distributions generally, but it was not without controversy and has been widely criticised (as well as praised). In this talk I will present Dinit, an alternative service manager that has been in development since about the same time, and has recently seen some uptake in some niches that systemd has been unsuited to fill; it is now the init system for Chimera Linux, and is an init option for Artix Linux. I will discuss what prompted its development, what makes it unique (both technically and philosophically) compared to systemd and other alternative service manager / init systems, my experiences in maintaining a long-running open-source project, and future plans.
Since 2015 (according to Wikipedia), the majority of Linux distributions have used systemd as primary service manager and "init". Systemd was a significant evolutionary step, and it paved the way for a number of improvements in Linux distributions generally, but it was not without controversy and has been widely criticised (as well as praised). In this talk I will present Dinit, an alternative service manager that has been in development since about the same time, and has recently seen some uptake in some niches that systemd has been unsuited to fill; it is now the init system for Chimera Linux, and is an init option for Artix Linux. I will discuss what prompted its development, what makes it unique (both technically and philosophically) compared to systemd and other alternative service manager / init systems, my experiences in maintaining a long-running open-source project, and future plans.