Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

runit VS Upstart

Compare runit VS Upstart and see what are their differences

runit logo runit

runit is a cross-platform Unix init scheme with service supervision, a replacement for sysvinit...

Upstart logo Upstart

Upstart is an event-based replacement for the /sbin/init daemon which handles starting of tasks and...
  • runit Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-03-14
  • Upstart Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-26

runit features and specs

  • Simplicity
    runit is known for its straightforward and simple design, making it easy to install, configure, and use.
  • Fast Boot Times
    Due to its lightweight nature, runit can significantly speed up system boot times compared to more complex init systems.
  • Service Supervision
    runit provides excellent service supervision capabilities, ensuring reliable and automatic restarting of services in case of failure.
  • Compatibility
    runit is compatible with UNIX-like operating systems and can serve as a drop-in replacement for other init systems.
  • Modular Design
    runit follows a modular approach, separating the init and supervision stages, which provides flexibility and robustness in managing services.

Possible disadvantages of runit

  • Limited Integration
    Compared to systemd, runit has limited integration with other system components, which may lead to less cohesive system management.
  • Smaller Community
    runit has a smaller user and developer community than more popular alternatives, potentially leading to fewer resources and less support.
  • Fewer Features
    While runit is lightweight, it lacks some of the advanced features that more comprehensive init systems like systemd provide.
  • Manual Configuration
    Setting up and configuring runit can require more manual intervention, which might not be as convenient for users accustomed to automated configurations.
  • Limited Ecosystem
    As a less widely adopted init system, there might be limited third-party tools and scripts specifically designed for runit.

Upstart features and specs

  • Event-based Architecture
    Upstart uses events for starting and stopping services, enabling services to be more responsive to system events and changes.
  • Parallel Execution
    It allows for parallel starting of system services, which can lead to faster boot times.
  • Dynamic Services Management
    Services can be started or stopped based on dependencies like hardware availability, making it flexible for dynamic environments.
  • Backward Compatibility
    Upstart is designed to be backward compatible with existing sysvinit scripts, easing the transition for users and administrators.

Possible disadvantages of Upstart

  • Complexity
    The event-driven model can be more complex to configure and troubleshoot, especially for those unfamiliar with it.
  • Limited Adoption
    Upstart has been largely replaced by systemd in many Linux distributions, leading to less community support and updates.
  • Documentation
    Some users find the documentation to be less comprehensive compared to other init systems, making it harder to master.
  • Legacy System
    As many systems transition to systemd, Upstart is increasingly considered a legacy system, reducing its long-term viability.

runit videos

Void Linux: Runit Service Management Basics & Custom Services

More videos:

  • Review - Artix LXQt with Runit - Installation and First Look
  • Review - Look @ antiX 19.2 Runit Edition - What Happened To My Runit?

Upstart videos

Upstart Personal Loan Review: Is It The Right Loan For You?

More videos:

  • Review - Upstart Loans Personal Review & Info - 850 Club Credit Consultation
  • Review - Good Credit News | Upstart Loan Review My Pre-Approval Offer

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to runit and Upstart)
Log Management
75 75%
25% 25
Fintech
53 53%
47% 47
Monitoring Tools
72 72%
28% 28
Finance
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare runit and Upstart

runit Reviews

The Best Retail Management Software of 2021
RunIt is a cloud-based POS suitable for businesses in the sports, footwear, apparel, gift and merchandise sectors. It integrates with Wordpay and Vantiv Integrated Payments to provide credit card and POS processing. Its POS functionality is available on mobile and can be used remotely. Its auto distribution feature offers users different ways of distributing merchandise...
Source: digital.com

Upstart Reviews

We have no reviews of Upstart yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, runit should be more popular than Upstart. It has been mentiond 9 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

runit mentions (9)

  • Way too many ways to wait on a child process with a timeout
    Not so much about timeouts, but related in that it is based around managing children processes: The lineage of tools descending from daemontools for service management is worth exploring: daemontools: http://cr.yp.to/daemontools.html runit: https://smarden.org/runit/ s6: https://skarnet.org/software/s6/ dinit: https://davmac.org/projects/dinit/. - Source: Hacker News / 7 months ago
  • S6 – skarnet's small supervision suite
    I personally am a fan of runit https://smarden.org/runit/ But s6 is excellent as well. - Source: Hacker News / 9 months ago
  • OpenRC is a dependency-based init system for Unix-like systems
    How does it compare to Runit[[0] used by Void Linux? [0]http://smarden.org/runit/. - Source: Hacker News / almost 2 years ago
  • SystemD vs Runit. Just a suggestion, not fight.
    Still, I can try to give you a rundown of Runit. Essentially, it's an init system that uses init scripts, but it has a bit more structure to improve on the shortcomings of sysvinit. Much like systemd, it also does service management, although in a much less involved way. Like with sysvinit, the task of logging is left to a separate process, though it has its own logging daemon, if you wish to use it (as logging... Source: about 2 years ago
  • What manages systemd?
    PID 1 is special. It's the init. Instead of System V init, you can use OpenRC, runit, systemd, s6, or others. Source: over 3 years ago
View more

Upstart mentions (1)

  • X12
    The problem is that systemd vs sysv-init is a false dichotomy. Systemd took over a ton of important non-init functionality, like DNS, logging, and interactive sessions. That could be fine if systemd did so in a nice and rock-solid way, but it was unpleasantly bug-ridden for years after being thrust on mainstream distros via a hard Gnome dependency. SysV-init sucks in many ways, it's well known, and I can... - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing runit and Upstart, you can also consider the following products

systemd - systemd is a replacement for the init daemon for Linux (either System V or BSD-style).

sysvinit - Savannah is a central point for development, distribution and maintenance of free software, both GNU and non-GNU.

s6 - s6 is a small suite of programs for UNIX, designed for process supervision. It can be used as an init system, or as separate supervision components.

FundMore.ai - Reduce risk – Lend with confidence

Supervisor - Supervisor is a client/server system that allows its users to monitor and control a number of...

WeFinance - Crowdfunded student loans