> Implements an init system; does not replace DNS, syslog, inetd, or anything else

Neither does systemd its init.

Unknowledgeable people keep confusing systemd the init and systemd the daemon / utility suite. You can use just the init system without pulling in resolved or networkd or whatever.

Systemd is the Unix philosophy of lots of modularity. But because all the systemd daemons come from the same shop, you get a lot of creature comforts if you use them together. Nothing bad about that.

> because all the systemd daemons come from the same shop, you get a lot of creature comforts if you use them together. Nothing bad about that.

That's how vendor lock-in works, in which a myth is propagated that having it all come from under one roof is best. In fact, it is a guarantee that best-of-breed alternative solutions cannot be used. Interoperability is thwarted. This is why sensible Unix admins historically knew to keep options open for mixed-vendor sourcing as long as the bosses didn't get roped in to a single vendor or source.

Okay, so you code the features that dnsmasq is missing that resolved has. Or pay someone to do it. I promise you systemd does not have special verification protocols that stop you from interfacing with certain features. This isn't Apple.

Think about it, you can't obligate the systemd folks to maintain codebases that aren't theirs.. would be madness.