We've already got a world with multiple inits. The rationale for adopting systemd is ... troubling. Clearly, Linus has some issues with the team involved, though I don't know whether or not he's also concerned with the deep coupling.

Hauling systemd out of udev (or offering a systemd-free alternative) would also make me far happier.

Complexity is the enemy of reliability. An expression dating back, I've recently discovered, to January, 1958, and The Economist Newspaper.