Ive been runing Debian 12 (kde) since bookworm was released and am loving it.
I have recently discovered Devuan which seems to be Debian without systemd - what is the benefit of removing this init system?
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0
Systemd is huge. It's a complex project that covers not just the init system, but also process management, networking, mounts, sessions, many other things. Many people think its monolithic design run counter with the Unix philosophy and wish to use distros without systemd.
Just to avoid misunderstandings: it's not a monotolithic blob, it is thought so because its first project was a system daemon that manages system services. It is described as "a software suite that provides an array of system components for Linux operating systems.", it is highly modular and offer many optional components that each have their own purpose.
You're conflating a monorepo and with software monolith.
The development style of systemd is the same as most BSDs, and nobody in their right mind would argue those are counter to the Unix philosophy.
If a collection of programs that each do a specific thing runs counter to the Unix philosophy, then Unix runs counter to the Unix philosophy.