There is a big difference here. To continue with the cliff analogy: Launchd ran fast enough to clear the cliff and was rewarded by a refreshing dive into the

There is a big difference here. To continue with the cliff analogy: Launchd ran fast enough to clear the cliff and was rewarded by a refreshing dive into the cool water; it was implemented in a competent manner and consequently didn't cause people to become upset. Systemd on the other-hand can't run without stumbling, it hobbled off the cliff and bounced off every rock on the way down. It made lots of people pissed off because it interfered with their routines. If systemd didn't cause problems for people, virtually no user would even know what it was, and consequently, virtually no user would hate it. If you ask your average OSX user what launchd is, they'll come up with a blank because launchd isn't causing trouble for them. If you ask your average linux desktop user what systemd is, a large portion of them will recognize the name, and many of them will chew your ear off out of frustration. At the end of the day it's not about "adherence to philosophies" or any similarly dubious concepts. Whether or not software is hated is ultimately determined by whether or not it causes problems for people.