Tips and tricks: Changing init software after a distribution has been installed
Quoting: DistroWatch.com: Put the fun back into computing. Use Linux, BSD. —
It's an interesting idea, swapping out one init implementation for another. In theory, it should be fairly easy to remove one init package and replace it with another. After all, most of the init implementations do approximately the same jobs. However, there are three major obstacles in the way if we want to change the init software our distribution is running.
The first issue is init is a low-level, core component of any Linux distribution. It's only a step above the kernel in terms of being at the foundation of the operating system and it is a key element in booting and shutting down the system. This means we can't just stop the init process, uninstall it, and install a replacement the same way we would change our web browser or music player. This is going to require a reboot, at least, and (if we're running systemd's init) on some distributions the software may not agree to be removed while it is running.
To attempt a car analogy: replacing init is a little like trying to change the wheels of a moving car. It's not as hard as replacing the engine (kernel), but it's going to be more complex than switching the radio station.
The second concern involved is some software these days relies on specific init functions, particularly in distributions which use systemd. For instance, if you are running some of the heavier desktop environments, they may rely on systemd functions. Removing systemd and replacing it with, for example OpenRC, could cause your desktop environment to no longer work. Likewise, if you use Snap packages, removing systemd and using another init implementation would cause Snap programs to cease working. We should make sure we are not using any applications which depend on a specific init package directly before attempting to swap one init for another.