Also the whole "One solution for people who don't like it is to create their own alternative; that is a good way to find out just how much fun that task is."

This seems to imply that those criticizing it didn't have alternatives, which is just not true. However it is so monolithic that as soon as a tiny part is depended on by something else (e.g. gnome) alternatives quickly become a non-starter.

systemd seems to be getting rewarded by not playing well with others which is something that plays strongly into a lot of people's dislike with it.