HowTo: Finit on Debian Jessie
Mini HowTo using Finit to boot Debian GNU/Linux 8.5 (Jessie). It is assumed that the user has already installed a compiler, C library header files, and other tools needed to build a GNU configure based project.
Also, Finit has only been verified to work with the Debian Server ed. I.e., during install — skip GNOME and other X stuff to get a plain and usable Debian server install, which we can add X-Window to later :-)
Now, I started off by replacing systemd from the base install with the old SysV init, using this HowTo, you may not need to do that, but for me it was easier — and also a great rebuttal to all the systemd haters out there (yeah, even though I speak for the alternative PID 1 movement I don't hate systemd :P) it is possible to still run Debian without systemd! Anyway, this text was based on that experience.
Like the Alpine HowTo, you need to install libuEv and
libite, but since this is Debian — which takes infinite care of its
users ♥ ♥ ♥ we don't need to worry about pkg-config.
With Debian everything just works!™
debian:~/finit$ ./configure --enable-rw-rootfs --enable-dbus-plugin \
--enable-x11-common-plugin --enable-alsa-utils-plugin \
--with-random-seed=/var/lib/urandom/random-seed \
--with-heading="Debian GNU/Linux 8.5" --with-hostname=debian
Then simply install Finit.
debian:~/finit$ make && sudo make install
Since /sbin/init already exists you need to add another entry to your
GRUB config, in /etc/grub.d/40_custom, or add init=/sbin/finit to
your kernel line everytime you boot. Or, you could change the /sbin
symlink, but that's on you.
However, before rebooting, make sure to read up on the comments I've
put in /etc/finit.conf install it and start.d/ into
/etc on your system — and possibly even check out more of the docu
for details.
Have fun!
/Joachim ツ