Systemd detractors seem to view the pre-systemd landscape through rose-tinted glasses or at least completely ignore what has been going on with the desktop. I hardly think ConsoleKit embodied the UNIX philosophy, and if the various desktop environments end up replacing their own subtly different session managers with systemd user session management that seems like a step forwards to me, both for the Linux developer community and for the end user.
I can't speak for any other 'systemd detractor', but I can definitely confess that I've completely ignored what's going on on the desktop. Because it's been utter crap for the last 20 years and is clearly getting no better.
The fact that the desktop is now spawning lovecraftian horrors from the deep in the service of 'booting to the desktop faster' and 'supporting hot-plug devices better' and that those awkward, stupid requirements now threaten to invade the standard installation on my servers, that definitely has my attention now, though.
