I understand the author's point; he's not being oblique at all. I just disagree. He explicitly claims that the kernel providing socket functionality is enough.

I understand the author's point; he's not being oblique at all. I just disagree. He explicitly claims that the kernel providing socket functionality is enough. But it's not. The example using mkfifo for example, is terrible for instance. It provides no lifecycle management and you'll end up launch multiple versions of a daemon if you accidentally send multiple signals to the pipe. There is a huge difference between "this is technically possible," and this is doable in a way that doesn't have many unforeseen pitfalls. Systemd asks much less of professionals than sysv and that's it's chief selling point.