I agree but all the proponents of it have said “it’s so convenient who cares”. That obviously states there are some features that bring value. I’m hard pressed to believe you need ALL of systemd architected how it is for those claims to hold.
There is value in not having to think about stuff too much. As my buddy sometimes says: 'I work support all the time, I don't want to do it at home as well.' Hard to argue with that. Heavens know I have less time for random exploration and related troubleshooting. But.. at certain point, that convenience is nulled by.. bad ideas.
I honestly didn't decide which path ( well, distro really )I am choosing, but I know it will not contain systemd if I can help it.
I’m not sure your point. Does an init system actually require a huge team and budget behind it? Especially when one guy is already forcing decisions on everyone?
I think the answer is: it kinda depends on one's needs and each one of us will have to answer what it depends on. Honestly, one of the beauty and curse of linux ecosystem. One could argue there are already small and contained init systems that don't require huge team or crazy budgets ( certainly by comparison ).