systemd vs init: The Heated Linux Rivalry Explained for 2025
Welcome to Linux’s Biggest Holy War
If you’ve spent more than five minutes in the Linux world, you’ve seen the flame wars: systemd vs init.
On one side: veterans who swear by the simplicity of the old ways. On the other: admins who love the power and efficiency of the new.
But here’s the truth for anyone managing systems in 2025: the war is over. systemd won.
That doesn’t mean you can ignore the old init system. Understanding both is key to mastering Linux, from troubleshooting a legacy server to commanding a modern cloud instance.
Let’s break down this rivalry like adults, so you know which tool to use and when.
The Old Guard: SysVinit (a.k.a. “init”)
This is the classic. The original. It’s like a reliable, manual transmission car—simple to understand, easy to fix, but not exactly fast off the line.
How it worked:
- Sequential Boot: It started processes one after another, in a strict order defined by runlevels (e.g., Runlevel 3 for multi-user mode, Runlevel 5 for GUI).
- Shell Scripts: Every service was managed by a script living in
/etc/init.d/. To restart a service, you’d run something like/etc/init.d/nginx restart. - Simple & Transparent: What you see is what you get. The scripts are just bash, so you can easily open them and figure out what they do.
The Problem: On a modern system with dozens of services, booting one thing at a time is slow. And managing complex dependencies between services? A total nightmare.
The New Standard: systemd
systemd isn’t just an init replacement. It’s a software suite that aims to manage the entire system. It’s like a modern, automatic performance car with an integrated computer—more complex, but far more powerful.
Why it took over:
- Parallel Boot: It starts as many services as possible in parallel, dramatically speeding up boot times.
- Dependency Management: It understands which services need what. It won’t start a network-dependent service before the network is ready.
- Unified Tools: It replaces a mess of different tools with one consistent set of commands.
- Integrated Logging: Its
journalctlcommand gives you a central, structured view of all system logs, which is a game-changer for debugging.
The Controversy: Critics say it’s “bloated,” too complex, and violates the Unix philosophy of “do one thing and do it well.” Love it or hate it, you have to know it.
The Command Showdown: init vs. systemd
This is where the rubber meets the road. Here’s how you get things done.
| Task | SysVinit (The Old Way) | systemd (The New Way) |
|---|---|---|
| Start a Service | sudo /etc/init.d/nginx start | sudo systemctl start nginx |
| Stop a Service | sudo /etc/init.d/nginx stop | sudo systemctl stop nginx |
| Check Status | sudo /etc/init.d/nginx status | sudo systemctl status nginx |
| Enable at Boot | sudo update-rc.d nginx defaults | sudo systemctl enable nginx |
| Disable at Boot | sudo update-rc.d nginx remove | sudo systemctl disable nginx |
| View Logs | tail -f /var/log/syslog | journalctl -u nginx -f |
See the pattern? systemctl is consistent and predictable. Once you learn it, you can manage any service on any systemd-based system.
Key systemctl Commands You Must Know
Forget the debate. This is the practical knowledge you need to be effective today.
systemctl status <service>: Your first command for any problem. It shows if the service is running, the latest log lines, and whether it’s enabled.systemctl start|stop|restart <service>: Basic service control. Pretty self-explanatory.systemctl enable|disable <service>: Controls whether the service starts automatically at boot. This is critical for server configuration.systemctl is-enabled <service>: A quick check to see if you’ve set up auto-start correctly.systemctl daemon-reload: After you change a service’s configuration file, you need to run this to tell systemd to reload its configuration. A common “gotcha” for new admins.
The Bottom Line: Which One Should You Use?
Let’s be brutally honest about the state of things in 2025:
- For New Projects & Most Systems: You’re using systemd. It’s the default on Ubuntu, Debian, RHEL, CentOS, and Fedora. Its advantages in boot time, logging (
journalctl), and service management are just too significant to ignore. You need to be fluent insystemctl. - For Legacy Systems or Specific Distros: You might still encounter SysVinit (or one of its derivatives like OpenRC) if you’re working on very old servers or specific distributions like Gentoo or Devuan. You need to know how to read those
/etc/init.d/scripts.
The Professional Take: The debate is largely academic for most working sysadmins. systemd is the reality of modern Linux infrastructure. Instead of fighting it, learn to leverage its power. Its consistency across distributions is actually a huge benefit.
Conclusion: system vs init – Stop Arguing, Start Learning
The systemd vs. init debate is a fascinating chapter in Linux history. But for the working professional, it’s history.
Your energy is better spent mastering the tools that run today’s systems. That means getting dangerously good with systemctl and journalctl.
Embrace the modern toolkit. Your boot times will be faster, your logs will be easier to read, and you’ll be able to manage services on any major Linux distro without missing a beat.
The war is over. systemd won. And that’s okay.
Ready to master systemd’s logging power? Our guide to [using journalctl like a senior sysadmin] will show you how to find any needle in the log haystack.
FAQ Section – sysyemd vs init
Q: Is systemd slower than init?
A: No, generally it’s much faster. The core design goal of systemd was to speed up the boot process by starting services in parallel, as opposed to init’s sequential startup. For most systems, this results in a significantly faster boot time. The perceived “slowness” some users report is often related to the broader scope of systemd’s tasks, not raw performance.
Q: Can I remove systemd from my Linux distribution?
A: Technically, yes, but it’s a complex and unsupported process that will almost certainly break your system. Many core utilities in modern distributions now depend on systemd features. It’s not just an init system; it’s a core component of the OS. If you strongly prefer a different init system, it’s far easier to choose a distribution that uses it by default, like Gentoo (OpenRC) or Devuan.
Q: What is the main advantage of systemd?
A: Its main advantage is integration and control. systemd provides a unified set of commands (systemctl, journalctl, hostnamectl, etc.) to manage the entire system state, from services and logs to users and hostnames. This consistency and power is why it was adopted by major distributions, making an admin’s skills more portable across different Linux flavors.
Q: Does Ubuntu use systemd?
A: Yes, Ubuntu has used systemd as its default init system since version 15.04 (“Vivid Vervet”), released in 2015. All current Long-Term Support (LTS) versions of Ubuntu, including 20.04 LTS and 22.04 LTS, use systemd. This is true for most of its derivatives as well, like Linux Mint.
