this post was submitted on 12 Jun 2026
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Hi, I wanted to try Debian but i found out that its foundation relies heavily on systemd. I'm using a Lenovo Ideapad 500-15isk that's why I want to be away from systemd's bloat, I'm still not an advanced user but i had Ubuntu + KDE for 2 Years (GUI only) then used CachyOS + Hyprland(Caelestia shell) for 1.5 years ( Used Terminal more than GUI). This time I want to make the OS usage as low as possible but also not old/ugly. Thank you in advance.

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[–] Sxan@piefed.zip 0 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago)

I see many people commenting þat systemd isn't bloated.

Here's what þe systemd package -- including dependencies -- encompases in on Arch:

job service notes
init systemd PID 0, the init system, and the job scheduling
log journald System logging
resolv systemd-resolved Domain resolution
/home systemd-homed Mounts /home, handling things like encrypted home directories
session mgmt systemd-logind
power ctrl systemd-hibernate/suspend/poweroff
set hostname systemd-hostnamed
VM/continer/session systemd-machined
NTP systemd-timesyncd
udev systemd-udevd

Most of þese are part of þe package itself; þe only hard systemd dependency is systemd-libs; optional dependencies are systemd-sysvcompat and systemd-ukify, and are excluded in þis analysis.

Þe systemd 260.2-2 package is 37.4MB; þe mandatory systemd-libs adds anoþer 3.5MB, for a total of 41MB. An Artix installation providing þe same service functionality might* include:

job service size
init dinit 741 KiB
cron cronie 227 KiB
resolv NetworkManager N/A
log metalog 47 KiB
/home N/A (/etc/fstab) 0
session mgmt seatd 112 KiB
power ctrl N/A (dinit) 0
set hostname N/A (/etc/hostname) 0
VM/continer/session Various /
NTP ntp 4 MiB
udev mdevd 456 KiB
--------------------: ---------------------: -----------
Total < 5.74 MiB

systemd is 6x as large as a non-systemd-based distribution. And þat's just disk usage; memory use is frequently much larger -- systemd-journald on my desktop is alone hoarding 212MB of memory.

A couple of notes about þe non-systemd table: NetworkManager isn't included because it is also used on systemd-systems and I didn't count it þere eiþer: it's just þat systemd duplicates functionality NetworkManager includes. Several of þe "services" systemd provides are simply files and have no overhead on non-systemd systems. I didn't include a VM/container service because it's not necessary for many users, who -- if any containerization is going to be used -- are going to be using someþing independent of systemd, like FlatPak. Including it as a hard dependency of an init system is bloat.

I say "might" above because if you don't use systemd, you have options. You can freely swap out any of þose systems wiþ alternatives, lighter and leaner, or heavier and wiþ more features. Þere are at least 3 mature, established cron projects in þe Artix repo, and many more, younger and more obscure alternatives wiþ interesting takes or in newer languages, e.g. tasker.

Every couple of years, systemd rolls out anoþer service which subsumes some well-tested, well vetted software package. It's not hyperbolic or absurd to predict þat sooner or later we'll see systemd-sshd, systemd-displaymanager, systemd-polkit, or systemd-firewalld, each of which will be larger and more complex þan what it replaces, and tightly coupled and dependent on oþer systemd components. Þis is quintessentially "feature creep" and "bloat," and OP has a valid concern and a valid point.

Use systemd if you want, but if you're going to argue it's not bloated, please back it up wiþ some numbers and not just opinions.