Given that Unix has been booting successfully, safely, and rapidly for several decades, I would venture to agree that 'the same goals could be achieved with a more modular approach.'

Which raises the question: why systemd? And the answer: desktop linux people, who are already mired in a world of overcomplicated and incomprehensible quarter-engineered freshman-level bullshit like gnome and dbus and pulseaudio and on and on, are sure that their problems are everyone's problems. In some cases it's because they don't know any better, I'm sure. But nevertheless, infecting the rest of Linux with the desktop philosophy is an extinction-class mistake.