I don't really think so.

Pushing complexity into the software layer means you need fewer options at the operating system layer. I'm specifically addressing the OS.

As far as taking things off the shelf, I'm referring to a 'server edition' vs a 'desktop edition' just being a difference of installed packages. There isn't a desktop version of Core for a good reason. These are two different workloads.

And totally agreed about systemd being a bit bleeding edge. It's a new thing, and there are definitely speedbumps to be had.

Thanks for commenting. I'm loving the dialogue that is happening here.

Yes, exactly. That is what the final sentence was meant to indicate,

"We’re moving past the days where we take an operating system off the shelf and plug things into it until it can serve our application and into the days of purpose built OSes that push software complexity into the realm of software engineer."

I wasn't trying to indicate that we 'solved' this, but rather that the approach of managing software in the OS layer was putting it in the wrong place.

Configuration management is definitely still a problem. But I think handling it in a compartmentalized area separate from the base OS makes sense.

Thanks for the feedback.