Learning to use systemd

Question

I've been a casual/slightly-technical user of linux for well over a decade now. I've always wanted to learn more about system administration, and I've started trying to really understand how systemd works. Unfortunately, as I've searched for help on that, I have not been able to find anything that starts at a simple level. The Arch Wiki is close, but might be one or two steps ahead of me. Most everywhere (including in the wiki) it seems they give a few examples without actually explaining what's happening, and then say "if you want more information, check the man pages". The man pages are... well... man pages. They seem written for people who already know what they're doing.
I'm going to keep studying the wiki pages here, but I thought I'd inquire if anyone knows of a good resource for learning how to use systemd. Preferably something between the "for dummies" level and the wiki level. Does such a thing exist?

Answer 1

Edit:  I see others have more succintly summed up what I was going to say in this post.  Follow ANOKNUSA's advice if you wish to skip my long-winded post.
I'm going to attempt to answer some of these statements by putting into words my experiences of Linux/open source/how-to-learn-this-stuff-but-man-pages-suck.    I'm going to assume, based on what you've posted in this thread, that we think somewhat alike on this subject.  I'll be Canadian and apologise in advance if my assumption is dead wrong.  If that's the case you're free to light me on fire and watch me glow like a Christmas tree. 
DrMag wrote:I've been a casual/slightly-technical user of Linux for well over a decade now.
I've been using Linux since Mandrake 8.0 in 2001.  I know I'm dating myself here but I wanted you to know that I'm not some snot-nosed 12 year old who thinks she knows better than an elder Linux user.
DrMag wrote:I've always wanted to learn more about system administration, and I've started trying to really understand how systemd works. Unfortunately ... I have not been able to find anything that starts at a simple level.
And you'll never find something simple enough to explain things in all the detail you are likely to want either.  I learned this lesson the hard way when I began using Linux.  We want something that explains ... well, everything and goes about documenting what each part of whatever it is we wish to learn in discrete segments.  To use your example:
DrMag wrote:It makes that jump to talking about "units" without ever explaining what is meant by that. What other types of units are there?
I remember very clearly saying almost exactly these same words on the Mandrake mailing list.  The response I got was (inevitably) read the man pages.  And then I said (nearly word-for-word) that: 
DrMag wrote:The man pages are... well... man pages. They seem written for people who already know what they're doing.
You're right: they aren't meant for newbies and people who want things explained in a lot of detail so we can grasp the fine nuances of what this gear does when this cog goes in that direction.  This should sound familiar, I think. 
DrMag wrote:  The Arch Wiki is close, but might be one or two steps ahead of me. Most everywhere (including in the wiki) it seems they give a few examples without actually explaining what's happening, and then say "if you want more information, check the man pages".
I understand this statement very well because I remember saying something very close to this to another member of the mailing list who tried to take me under his wing for a while.  It took me about a year to realise that there really is only one way for people like us to learn these things: Doing it.
Seriously.  Those two words were what helped me to learn-as-I-went-along. For example, I wanted to set up an ftp server and I had no idea how to do it.  I read man pages and newbie-esque websites for explanations.  Some helped and some didn't.  Mostly I learned by setting up what I thought would work but often-times failed.  So I'd go back and read up on what failed, why it failed, and what it is supposed to do that I obviously didn't understand.  Yes this took some reading and cogitating upon the seemingly arcane technical aspects that I wished to learn.  The result was that eventually I got an ftp server set up (after about 3 years of procrastinating, reading and absorbing strange technical concepts) but I did it. 
In a way for you, I think, being an Archer will be to your advantage.  When I was looking for information and ideas back in the early 2000's there were no real references you could look at save some man pages, a few nice-to-newbies websites and some well-intentioned would-be Linux mentors.  Arch, on the other hand, has the wiki and a lot of good information on the forums.
What I suggest you do is what I did:  Play with whatever it is you want to understand on a separate machine, figure out what your goal is and then implement what you think is the correct answer.  Don't try to understand everything you want to know about systemd at this point.  Just install it, your server setup you want working and see if it does what you need it to do.  If it does, great.  Poke at it to find out what a component you don't understand is supposed to be.  Find a few newbie-oriented web pages to discern this information.  Read the man page if you dare but don't expect to get all the answers you want to learn.  Instead focus on said component you need/want to learn and work to understand it by itself to your satisfaction.
I also had to learn one more thing:  It's unlikely that you will learning everything about any aspect of Linux and, in your case, systemd itself.  You'll never be a systemd expert but if you're willing to try out these ideas it's likely that you will end up learning enough expertise to satisfy your needs and thirst for knowledge about Linux and systemd.
Last edited by MoonSwan (2014-11-08 20:28:36)