We would have been forced to bite the bullet and implement a packaging extension that allowed debs to describe what to start at boot time, when, and how. The compatability layer would have allowed any init system to be used.

Instead we welded the systemd engine into the chassis and pray that when it comes to replacing it we aren’t the ones on the hook.

> The compatability layer would have allowed any init system to be used.

I don’t see how such a compatibility layer would work in a way that doesn’t suck horribly.