MX Linux 25.1 brings back switchable init systems
- Reference: 1768993211
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2026/01/21/mx_25_1_init_diversity/
- Source link:
[1]The update follows a very short beta period – [2]25.1 beta 1 appeared a week earlier . Then again, this is no ordinary bug-fix point release. As the beta announcement said:
We normally do not produce beta images for "point release" updates, but in this case we thought it was prudent because, as of 25.1, dual-init is now once again possible, and we are including both systemd and sysvinit on the same ISO. This both drastically cuts the number of builds we do and also brings back a feature that was uniquely MX.
In other words, 25.1 restores one of the most distinctive and useful features of MX Linux: the ability to choose your init system as the computer boots. The [3]MX Linux 25 release back in November last year made you choose before installation, and the KDE Plasma edition was only available with systemd.
[4]
MX Linux 25.1 with the default Xfce, with start menu at bottom left – and sysvinit
This unfortunate change was looking likely for months – we [5]warned it was likely back in August 2025. This had a couple of drawbacks. On one hand, it meant an unavoidable proliferation of MX Linux 25 editions. As we [6]mentioned when looking at the beta in September, it meant no less than seven different editions. On the other hand, it made Lennart Poettering's controversial systemd init system harder to avoid. For instance, it's part of both the MX Linux-based [7]AV Linux distros that we looked at in December.
[8]Ready for a newbie-friendly Linux? Mint team officially releases v 22.3, 'Zena'
[9]Wine 11 runs Windows apps in Linux and macOS better than ever
[10]Debian goes retro with a spatial desktop that time forgot
[11]GNOME dev gives fans of Linux's middle-click paste the middle finger
What's a little unexpected is that rather than an updated or fixed version of the previous [12]systemd-shim tool , this ability has returned due to a new init-switching system called [13]init-diversity . This comes from an [14]alternate spin of one of MX's progenitor distros, antiX Linux – we [15]looked at version 23 of this when its Debian 12-based release came out. The newer Debian 13-based release is [16]still in its second beta .
The most recent version of this upstream spin, [17]antiX-23.2 – init-diversity – 2025 remaster edition , offers a choice of six different init systems: sysvinit , s6-rc , s6-66 , OpenRC , dinit and runit . For now, MX Linux 25.1 offers just two: the classic sysvinit, or the protean shoggoth that is systemd.
[18]
The attractively themed GRUB menu offers a choice of init systems on the Advanced menu
Upgrading MX Linux is a little tricky as it is – we upgraded our spare MX Linux 23 partition to 25, and while the OS works perfectly, the handy [19]MX Tools no longer do. With something as critical as an init system, the developers are playing it safe: updating MX Linux 25 to 25.1 will not install the init-diversity tools. If you want to be able to choose your init, the project has a [20]page describing how to enable it – and it includes uninstallation instructions too.
Bootnote
Our thanks to reader Mike R who tipped us off and sent us a link to the [21]MX Linux Forum thread where this change was discussed earlier this month. ®
Get our [22]Tech Resources
[1] https://mxlinux.org/blog/mx-25-1-infinity-isos-now-available/
[2] https://mxlinux.org/blog/mx-25-1-infinity-beta-1-isos-now-available-for-testing-purposes/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/13/mx_linux_25_infinity_released/
[4] https://regmedia.co.uk/2026/01/20/mx_25_1_desktop.jpg
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/06/debian_13_mx_25/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/23/mx_linux_25_reaches_beta/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/02/av_linux_25/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/16/linux_mint_223_zena_officially_release/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/15/wine_11_arrives_faster_and/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/09/desktop_classic_system/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/07/gnome_middle_click_paste/
[12] https://github.com/knelsonmeister/systemd-shim
[13] https://gitlab.com/init-diversity/
[14] https://antixlinux.com/unofficial-antix-23-init-divesity-spin/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2023/09/01/antix_23/
[16] https://antixlinux.com/antix-25-full-beta2-for-public-testing/
[17] https://antixlinux.com/antix-23-2-init-diversity-2025-remaster-edition/
[18] https://regmedia.co.uk/2026/01/20/mx_25_1_grub.jpg
[19] https://github.com/MX-Linux/mx-tools
[20] https://mxlinux.org/blog/mx-25-dual-init-setup/
[21] https://forum.mxlinux.org/viewtopic.php?t=87386
[22] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Why?
Well it enables experimentation I suppose and switching by choosing at boot time rather than a migration that replaces one with the other is less likely to leave you with a bricked[1] system.
[1] Obviously not completely bricked if you can boot into recovery media and fix whatever you broke.
Re: Why?
> Can someone give an example of a use case for rebooting to use systemd occasionally, and sysv usually?
Sure. NVIDIA drivers.
At least some of them won't install if they can't find systemd, but once they are installed they work perfectly fine without it.
My elderly Thinkpads' GPUs aren't supported any more, but what I did several times a few versions ago was:
1. Get new nVidia driver.
2. Try to install it: won't, because no systemd.
3. Reboot, pick Advanced Options, pick systemd option
4. Install nVidia driver.
5. Reboot with systemd, check it is working.
6. All good? Reboot as normal with trad init. Driver continues to work quite happily.
I have seen this behaviour in other apps too, things that are not packaged for the distro. (This does not apply to Snaps because snapd requires systemd.) Systemd is just a given now, and the install routine checks for it and bails out if it can't find it.
This is I think why MS hired Lennart "Agent P" Poettering: to integrate systemd into WSL2 --
https://www.theregister.com/2022/09/24/systemd_windows_linux_microsoft/
Result: it works _exactly the same._ But...
There are many clueless newbs who are building stacks on Docker and whatnot, and have zero clue what to do when the "systemctl start foo" command they copied-and-pasted off Stack Overflow doesn't work. They have no more clue what "systemctl" means or does than a chimpanzee knows what the quadratic formula is, but they are deploying stores on the live web these days.
Now WSL2 has systemd and it works.
MX booted in systemd mode ticks the boxes and things install. Then you can just reboot and ignore it.
Re: Why?
How do the BSDs work then?
Most (all?) support KDE. And most (all?) can make use of nvidia drivers, as far as I know
Re: Why?
BSD IS NOT a Linux distro. Is a completely separate (and much older) *nix OS, with a completely different kernel, driver model, and even comand line userland (ie, it does not use the GNU command line utilities for the most part.)
FOSS Linux software (like KDE) and drivers can be ported to *BSD, but for the most part, can not be used as-is.
nVIDIA drivers for BSD are as different to nVIDIA drivvers for Linux as nVIDIA drivers for Windows were different to nVIDIA drivers for MacOS
As for KDE, it lives mostly in the PORTS section of BSD (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD_Ports). Part of the ports-ing effort is to remove the systemd dependencies.
Please also be aware that BSD DOES NOT use sysvinit. Instead, it uses rcRG
Re: Why?
+1 for shoggothd
Sanity is restored?
Let's hope the MX guys have learned to appreciate their USP and don't try to throw it all away again to "compete" with Ubuntu & Mint.
For the future, I would be interested to know if the antiX guys kicked them up the arse over this, or whether MX asked for the help ;)
Re: Sanity is restored?
Both AntiX and MX were annoyed by having to mainatin the severely outdated systemd-shim-tool. The MX Linux folk said "fuck this! Choose an init at install and get done with it".
Meanwhile, at AntiX, they REALLY wanted to continue with multiple init systems, pain and all. But, at the eleventh-hour, an AntiX folk by the handle "ProwlerGr" came up with something more modern and easier to maintain going forward called init-diversity.
MX saw inti-diversite, saw it was good, and corrected course. No kicking of the arse needed.
Why?
Can someone give an example of a use case for rebooting to use systemd occasionally, and sysv usually? Or vice-versa? I've been using Linux for over 20 years and have never needed systemd. (I've disliked sysv's init method of file symlinks ever since first encountering it {in Solaris?} but it's lightweight and it works.)