systemd's widespread adoption was somewhat controversial and took years. I realize Upstart didn't receive widespread adoption, and Canonical has historically li

systemd's widespread adoption was somewhat controversial and took years. I realize Upstart didn't receive widespread adoption, and Canonical has historically liked to start its own products (Mir and Unity as you noted). But the discussion around systemd was not "everyone except Canonical thinks it's good", and Upstart had been in development for several years.