To be fair, this seems like an illustration of GP's point: > complex corner-cases that only a a very tech-savvy user could generate in the first place I agree

To be fair, this seems like an illustration of GP's point: > complex corner-cases that only a a very tech-savvy user could generate in the first place I agree that an init system should work on complex corner-cases, but systemd remains popular because it works for most people most of the time. Tangent: have you found an init system that you like the most? I've only used four or five init systems and don't have any super strong opinions -- maybe because I'm not running and SBC farm. :~)