I disagree. A few loud voices strongly do not want it, but a few others like it, and the vast majority seems pretty content using it, not caring as long as it works well enough.
My main complaint about systemd is that most people don't use it enough. the units for sockets, timers, paths can be really powerful, and the sandboxing capabilities are great. They are just underused.
For basic system components like an init, network manager, etc. I'd also say that "Popular with people who don’t care" is great praise. It means that the people who don't want to care can choose to just not. Being great with people who do care is of course great too (and being popular with both is the best), but don't discount the value of a utility just being a utility.
Embrace, extend, extinguish. The cycle repeats.
There used to be a (long) time where everybody ignored web standards, and each browser had their own extensions. But you are right: it was Microsoft who tried to introduce complete vendor lock-in with ActiveX controls - I couldn't use my private banking without it, for example. And it wasn't that long time ago.
Funny you should mention that.
IE box model was correct from the practical point of view, and the standard was wrong. Today every single CSS reset forces IE box model with box-sizing: border-box;