ELC + ABS

Systemd is as big a disruption in userspace as device-trees were to the kernel. Newer kernels are tightly coupled with systemd via udev, cgroups and the coming kdbus, so projects that select recent kernels will need to learn how to optimize and configure systemd. Systemd's fully asynchronous initialization and complex dependencies are bewildering at first, but its modularity, plentiful tool suite and comprehensive documentation make the configuration tractable. Systemd provides simpler access to resource management via cgroups, and presents a convenient interface to control the kernel's capabilities privilege-granting system via its security features. Systemd-udev's deprecation of firmware loading and the recent removal of systemd-readahead will create a headache for some users, and are symptomatic of the embedded community's need to participate in systemd's development.