do you disagree? Because essentially every phone, television, car, printer, appliance, sign, smart watch, web server, router, and modem uses Linux.
If, charitably, you give 2% market share to desktop linux, and then multiply that by worldwide PC shipments (~80mm last quarter, so assuming ~320mm annualized), you end up with 6.4 million. Not bad. But there were 918mm smartphone shipments in 2013, of which android was around 75%-80% market share, so 688 million or so. That's over a hundred times as many users just in phones alone.
Counting embedded devices in this discussion as part of the Linux population is questionable at best. There isn't an init system debate for embedded devices. I've not seen any indication that Samsung will be changing the infra based on the init system war, any more than GE is going to change my microwave.
All of those devices are linux, and all have init systems. Currently, there are two core systems they use: bsd-like init.rc systems (and busybox variants), and sysv.
Similarly with servers: essentially all the web servers and application servers in the world are linux, and they also don't need the sort of windows-style 'architecture' that systemd brings.
In fact, I would venture to say that boot speed isn't even in the top 50 concerns of a desktop linux user.
So it's not just the tail wagging the dog; it's a nonexistent, badly drawn picture of a tail wagging several billion dogs.
If, charitably, you give 2% market share to desktop linux, and then multiply that by worldwide PC shipments (~80mm last quarter, so assuming ~320mm annualized), you end up with 6.4 million. Not bad. But there were 918mm smartphone shipments in 2013, of which android was around 75%-80% market share, so 688 million or so. That's over a hundred times as many users just in phones alone.