[teddyh]

> adds a flag to the kernel command line "debug" - systemd sees that and thinks you want systemd in debug mode

A reasonable assumption, given that systemd is taking care of the whole OS, and if you want the kernel in debug mode, you’d reasonably want the system in debug mode too. But it’s not obviously correct, either, and ultimately it boils down to “who owns the kernel command line flags”. There was some kerfuffle about exactly that between the kernel and systemd people, but they eventually worked it out – I think systemd no longer tries to assert ownership of the "debug" kernel command line parameter.