How to install jessie without systemd

[jheaton5]

From the systemd-Debian Wiki

Installing without systemd

Jessie installs systemd by default on new installs. Should it for some reason be desired to install without systemd, it is possible to use preseed to replace systemd with sysvinit at the end of the install (This probably won't work if selecting one of the desktop environments that require systemd specific features however). If using a preseed file already, just make sure to set the preseed value

Code: Select all

preseed/late_command="in-target apt-get install -y sysvinit-core"

If not using a preseed file, this can be added to the boot arguments instead by hitting TAB at the boot menu on the desired entry and appending the above preseed line at the end of the boot command.

There may still be a few bits of systemd installed, but at least init itself is not systemd and cleaning up any remaining pieces should not be too hard.

[golinux]

Yeah, you install it then uninstall it. Really efficient. But that's just the init system. What about all the other systemd tentacles? Try these instead:

Refracta: http://refracta.freeforums.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=440 (my respin of choice)
Exegnu: http://exegnulinux.net/downloads/jessie

Then there's the fork . . . maybe.

[Sephiroth]

I don't want any of it. Who cares if you rip the init system part out? I admit I like the idea of systemd being JUST an init system. No more millions of init scripts for all the different distros. It is everything else I hate. These people just don't get it. The init replacement was fine! It's everything else that isn't!

[Buntunub]

Well, that is going to become more and more problematic as Systemd continues to gobble up major infrastructure pieces and makes them a part of the borg collective as it is now. This of course means that more and more of these once independant upstream projects are going to have to be forked and more and more people are going to be needed to maintain them, such as udev, policykit (basically orphaned at this point), and etc. I think you can see where this is going. To maintain the old status quo, you need to maintain the old status quo - all of it, or don't bother. People think forking Debian is just no big deal. Well, it is a big deal. While I do have some hope that Devuan could work out, I am skeptical that it can work out in an entirely Systemd-free way.

[Randicus Draco Albus]

There may still be a few bits of systemd installed, but at least init itself is not systemd and cleaning up any remaining pieces should not be too hard.

Two things would concern me:
1 - It is not a systemdless installation. It is a mostly systemd-free installation.
2 - After installing a minimal system and purging the systemd packages, what can be safely installed afterwards? Obviously not Gnome, but how many packages would pull in systemd dependencies?

I do not see this as a viable solution. And of course, it is only temporary. The next release will probably not have even this less than optimal option.

[Buntunub]

Yeah. This is nothing more than throwing a bone at the people not happy with the situation. Its probably something they thought of before Devuan announced they went live. Now the cat's out of the bag and the fork is history, so they will most likely abandon any idea of support for this stupid idea.

[golinux]

Yeah. This is nothing more than throwing a bone at the people not happy with the situation. Its probably something they thought of before Devuan announced they went live. Now the cat's out of the bag and the fork is history, so they will most likely abandon any idea of support for this stupid idea.

Say what??? This is the bone that Debian has thrown to its users. AFAIK, Devuan is going to eliminate ALL systemd stuff. Development is moving along nicely. According to IRC, they plan to have it ready so that users can do a systemd-less upgrade from Wheezy when Jessie goes stable .

[Randicus Draco Albus]

I see you have high hopes for the fork.

[golinux]

I see you have high hopes for the fork.

I do. dzz and fsmithred (exegnu with TDE and refracta with openbox - both free of systemd) are involved.

[cynwulf]

By their own admission, the fork is not yet a fork - it's yet another debian respin at the moment.