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.