Sparcipx mentions  ditching Linux for  good [0].  I think this  is a
wise decision at  this point, although I'd be  interested in hearing
his reasoning.  I've been  a Linux  user since  1995, but  have been
dissatisfied with 'mainstream' Linux for at least ten years. In 2009
I wrote about my misgivings and  how Slackware kept me interested in
Linux [1].

What's interesting now is that Slackware  is pretty much the same as
it was  10 years ago,  at least as  far as installation  and overall
system architecture.  It never caught  the systemd virus,  and still
does not use  PAM (although rumour has  it that PAM may  be added to
v15 in  order to provide OpenLDAP  support). I have an  older laptop
running Slackware  14.2 that I  use when  traveling, or as  a backup
during power outages. Its stability  and simplicity is welcome. Once
you get  Slackware installed,  it pretty much  just runs.  It's what
Debian stable _used_ to be before it  lost its way. There was a time
when I  recommended Debian stable for  all new server installs  - no
longer.  Now I  am much  more likely  to pick  one of  the BSDs  for
servers (as I did here on the Republic).

The desktop situation is less  clear. Often some version of 'modern'
Linux is required  for proper hardware support. This tends  to be an
issue with newer hardware though, so  this is a good reason to stick
with older hardware, if possible.

Nowadays systemd is  my primary reason to avoid  Linux. My reasoning
in 2009, about  geeks wanting to get their hands  dirty (and perhaps
more  importantly _able_  to get  their hands  dirty), is  even more
valid today when one considers systemd,  which is opaque at best and
poorly documented (hm,  maybe we should forego  the term 'GNU/Linux'
and use 'Systemd/Linux' instead). It's ironic that the mass movement
towards systemd in many ways  resembles the Windows monoculture that
the Linux community  fought so hard against in the  90s. The reasons
that monocultures were  bad in 1995 are the exact  same reasons they
are bad today.

If I  could make  a prediction  concerning systemd,  it is  that the
current widespread and  continued adoption of it will  bite Linux in
the proverbial ass. It's far too  complex to avoid major security or
performance flaws. As  it grows and infects every part  of the Linux
ecosystem, the problems will only get worse.

[0]: gopher://sdf.org/0/users/sparcipx/phlog/February_2020/02-08-20
[1]: gopher://sdf.org/0/users/slugmax/phlog_archives/slack