Upgrade to Debian 8 without systemd
To avoid the automatic installation/switch to systemd during the upgrade to Debian 8, it is enough to prevent the installation of the systemd-sysv
package.
This can be done by creating a file /etc/apt/preferences.d/no-systemd-sysv
with the following content:
Package: systemd-sysv Pin: release o=Debian Pin-Priority: -1
(via)
Thanks, but there's a small error-- this file needs to go in /etc/apt/preferences.d, rather than /etc/preferences.d (which doesn't exist, but creating that directory won't work either).
I know this post is old, but wanted to mention that for the sake of others who might stumble across it.