Linux From Scratch, a project and book that teaches you how to build a complete Linux system step-by-step entirely from source code, has announced that future releases will no longer support or develop System V init, marking a reluctant but decisive shift to a systemd-only direction.
The decision was communicated by long-time LFS contributor Bruce Dubbs in a message sent to the project’s announcement, support, and development mailing lists yesterday, on February 1, 2026.
The primary reason cited is sustainability. Dubbs mentions that LFS and its companion project, Beyond Linux From Scratch (BLFS), which helps you extend your finished LFS installation into a more customized and usable system, are maintained entirely by volunteers.
LFS currently tracks 88 packages, while BLFS covers more than 1,000. During the current release cycle alone, editors have processed 70 commits in LFS and more than 1,150 in BLFS. According to devs, supporting both System V init and systemd requires duplicating package checks, updates, and release validation, which the maintainers say has become unmanageable.
Another reason for the decision to end System V init support was upstream software trends. And more specifically, major desktop environments, including GNOME and KDE Plasma, are increasingly introducing a hard dependency on systemd-specific functionality that is not available in System V init.
All this led to the final result: the development of System V init books will stop with LFS/BLFS version 12.4. These books will remain available, and users may still be able to build newer software versions using the existing instructions, but such configurations will no longer be tested or supported by the project’s editors.
Finally, I cannot fail to mention the slightly bitter feeling with which Dubbs ends his announcement:
“As a personal note, I do not like this decision. To me LFS is about learning how a system works. Yes, systemd provides a lot of capabilities, but we will be losing some things I consider important.”
The next release, LFS/BLFS 13.0, is planned for March 1, 2026, and will focus exclusively on systemd-based systems. You can see the original announcement here.
