# runit

19 Hacker News commenters recommended runit and 3 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Simple, reliable Unix init and service supervisor people run for years. Main caveats: fiddly setup with read-only root and fewer features than systemd.

## Why people recommend it

- Simple design, easy to set up (3 comments): "I also use Void/runit primarily and enjoy it because of its simplicity" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48737092)) "It's looks absurdly simple, but works very well." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45951307)) "runit has been the simplest to setup and use" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45952549))
- Rock solid in long-term use (2 comments): "I use runit on my production workstation and don't think about it; it just works." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46860806)) "It's been rock solid on dozens of systems for more than a decade." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46859463))
- Elegant, minimal daemontools-style design (2 comments): "I have found the design of daemontools and its derivatives runit and nitro elegant" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46259318)) "I'm sure that anyone who likes to hack their systems will surely appreciate runit." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45954461))
- Strong alternative to systemd (2 comments): "one of the most promising candidates for an init system aside from systemd" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45951725)) "LFS could have chosen a simpler init than the domain standard, like runit or s6-init" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46868385))

## What people warn about

- Check scripts and bash scripts fail (2 comments): "With runit you have to have a check executable, and then run 'sv check servicename' in the start script" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45953745)) "come back crying when your runit bash scripts fail all the time" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45952969))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [OpenRC](https://hackerapproved.com/p/openrc.md): 21 recommend
- [SysVinit](https://hackerapproved.com/p/sysvinit.md): 19 recommend
- [Upstart init system](https://hackerapproved.com/p/upstart.md): 11 recommend
- [dinit](https://hackerapproved.com/p/dinit.md): 9 recommend
- [s6](https://hackerapproved.com/p/s6.md): 9 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "runit", https://hackerapproved.com/p/runit/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).