- index.md: add download link + stable release announcement - building.md: add troubleshooting section (cache, squashfs, compression) - ci.md: IA upload enabled, push trigger removed (manual dispatch only) - development.md: add all gotchas from AGENTS.md (SDDM theme ordering, pipewire launcher, antergos-release in basestrap, CI changes) - installer.md: document fixed issues (audio, SDDM, os-release) - packages.md: add pipewire fork, antergos-sddm-theme, antergos-release - launcher.md: expand with module configs - init-systems.md: Chimera uses dinit, OpenRC marked as broken - openrc.md: add broken warning banner - wallpapers.md: default is antergos-wallpaper.png (not Adwaita Morning) - overlays: clean up explanations and symlink behavior - desktop-environments.md: add Discover note, clean up GNOME entry - dinit.md, runit.md, s6.md: polish and add troubleshooting sections
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title, layout, nav_order, has_children
| title | layout | nav_order | has_children |
|---|---|---|---|
| Init Systems | default | 3 | true |
Init Systems
An init system is PID 1 — the first process that runs when your computer boots. It starts everything else: filesystems, networking, display manager, services. Think of it as a foreman: it doesn't do the work itself, but it makes sure everything happens in the right order.
Antergos NeXT lets you choose between four init systems during online installation. (Offline mode uses Dinit, the default.)
Don't know what to pick? Stick with Dinit — it's the default, it's fast, and it's what Antergos NeXT ships with. OpenRC is also available but currently broken in Antergos NeXT (services don't enable correctly on installed systems).
The inits
| Init | Philosophy | Complexity | Speed | Used by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dinit | Modern, dependency-based, parallel | Medium | Very fast | Antergos NeXT (default), Chimera Linux, Artix, new projects |
| OpenRC | Traditional, modular, shell-script-based | Low | Fast | Gentoo, Artix, Devuan, Alpine — currently broken in Antergos NeXT |
| Runit | Minimal, supervision-based, Unix-like | Low | Very fast | Void Linux, AntiX |
| S6 | Full supervision suite, modular | Medium-High | Very fast | Artix, embedded systems |
Choosing an init
| If you want... | Pick... |
|---|---|
| The fastest boot, automatic dependency resolution | Dinit |
| Something familiar, well-documented, simple | OpenRC |
| The simplest supervision-based approach | Runit |
| The most powerful non-systemd init with full supervision | S6 |
What they all have in common
- No systemd — all four are independent implementations
- Service scripts — services are configured via files in
/etc/ - Runlevels — groups of services that start together under different conditions
- Plain-text logging — logs go to
/var/log/, notjournalctl
Key differences
| Aspect | Dinit | OpenRC | Runit | S6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Service format | Declarative .conf files |
Shell scripts | Executable run scripts |
run scripts + s6-rc database |
| Dependencies | Automatic | Manual (need/use) |
None | Automatic (s6-rc) |
| Supervision | Optional | No | Yes (runsv) | Yes (s6-supervise) |
| Logging | None built-in | syslog | Per-service (optional) | Per-service (s6-log) |
| Init script | None needed | /etc/init.d/ |
/etc/runit/1/2/3 |
s6-linux-init |
Learning Linux with init systems
If you're new to Linux, init systems are one of the best ways to understand how your OS works under the hood:
- Processes — PID 1, service trees, process supervision
- Boot order — what needs to start before what
- Dependencies — why NetworkManager needs dbus, why dbus needs udev
- Runlevels — why your system behaves differently in single-user vs normal boot
The best part? If you break something with services, you can always fix it by re-enabling or starting it manually. Service management is much simpler than kernel config or package management.
Switching init after install
Artix provides a switching init guide that also works on Antergos NeXT. The process involves installing the new init's packages, configuring its services, and updating the bootloader.