runit
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 3 of 9 init systems by recommenders
Simple, reliable Unix init and service supervisor people run for years. Main caveats: fiddly setup with read-only root and fewer features than systemd.
Simple, reliable Unix init and service supervisor people run for years. Main caveats: fiddly setup with read-only root and fewer features than systemd.
22 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 19
- criticize it
- 3
- approval share
- 86%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 19 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 6.3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Simple design, easy to set up
“I also use Void/runit primarily and enjoy it because of its simplicity”
Comment from 30 Jun 2026 in “No Systemd” “It's looks absurdly simple, but works very well.”
Comment from 17 Nov 2025 in “Runit Linux: Complete Guide to Unix Init Scheme with Service Supervision” “runit has been the simplest to setup and use”
Comment from 17 Nov 2025 in “Runit Linux: Complete Guide to Unix Init Scheme with Service Supervision” Rock solid in long-term use
“I use runit on my production workstation and don't think about it; it just works.”
Comment from 2 Feb 2026 in “Linux from Scratch Ends SysVinit Support” “It's been rock solid on dozens of systems for more than a decade.”
Comment from 2 Feb 2026 in “Linux from Scratch Ends SysVinit Support” Elegant, minimal daemontools-style design
“I have found the design of daemontools and its derivatives runit and nitro elegant”
Comment from 13 Dec 2025 in “From Azure Functions to FreeBSD” “I'm sure that anyone who likes to hack their systems will surely appreciate runit.”
Comment from 17 Nov 2025 in “Runit Linux: Complete Guide to Unix Init Scheme with Service Supervision” Strong alternative to systemd
“one of the most promising candidates for an init system aside from systemd”
Comment from 17 Nov 2025 in “Runit Linux: Complete Guide to Unix Init Scheme with Service Supervision” “LFS could have chosen a simpler init than the domain standard, like runit or s6-init”
Comment from 3 Feb 2026 in “Linux from Scratch Ends SysVinit Support”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Check scripts and bash scripts fail
“With runit you have to have a check executable, and then run 'sv check servicename' in the start script”
Comment from 17 Nov 2025 in “Runit Linux: Complete Guide to Unix Init Scheme with Service Supervision” “come back crying when your runit bash scripts fail all the time”
Comment from 17 Nov 2025 in “Runit Linux: Complete Guide to Unix Init Scheme with Service Supervision”
Other init systems people recommend
The four most recommended other init systems, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| systemd | 326 | 335 | 49% | 12 | 14 yrs8 owners | — |
| OpenRC | 21 | 7 | 75% | 9 | 25 yrs4 owners | Approved |
| runitThis page | 19 | 3 | 86% | 6 | — | Approved |
| SysVinit | 19 | 26 | 42% | 6 | 30 yrs3 owners | — |
| Upstart init system | 11 | 14 | 44% | 6 | — | — |
What people said
21 of the 25 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I also use Void/runit primarily and enjoy it because of its simplicity”
“things like OpenRC and runit exist”
“runit do not manages both, system and user services”
“to get this feature, we had to drop sysv for runit, two decades ago”
“LFS could have chosen a simpler init than the domain standard, like runit or s6-init”
“I use runit on my production workstation and don't think about it; it just works.”
“daemontools or maybe runit were my favorites.”
“It's been rock solid on dozens of systems for more than a decade.”
“The whole system is useful in many situations and not only as pid 1.”
“daemontools, runit, s6 solve that problem”
“I have found the design of daemontools and its derivatives runit and nitro elegant”
“I'm sure that anyone who likes to hack their systems will surely appreciate runit.”
“With runit you have to have a check executable, and then run 'sv check servicename' in the start script”
“It's a little complicated to set up if your root file system is read-only”
“come back crying when your runit bash scripts fail all the time”
“I haven't used runit and from the look of it, it's a big improvement over SystemV at the very least.”
“runit has been the simplest to setup and use”
“runit, s6, and OpenRC don't have the downsides of systemd, but they also only cover a subset of its features”
“svlogd's rotation and size capping makes it great when using limited-lifespan nonvolatile storage like eMMC”
“one of the most promising candidates for an init system aside from systemd”
“It's looks absurdly simple, but works very well.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.