I've seen this argument raised a couple of times so far on the internet, and when I offer the same search with the keyword "linux" people seem to feel like it's

I've seen this argument raised a couple of times so far on the internet, and when I offer the same search with the keyword "linux" people seem to feel like it's not exactly an apples to apples comparison. So, maybe you can try the search with the name of your favourite project (that maybe is similar in scope and user base to systemd) and tell us what you find? Are the numbers that dissimilar?