NO, there was no evolution. SystemD was FORCED in place, and dependencies on SystemD were SHOVED up our asses. There was no "choice," there was no "evolution." It was largely unwanted, with good reason. Look at Pottering's other messes, like Pulse Audio.
WHY exactly does a so-called "init" replacement need access to iptables? Oh give it a few minutes..the breathless SystemD people will announce yet another module. And the SystemD astroturfers will be out in force.
This is exactly why I started looking at FreeBSD. I didn't need Microsoft-like astroturfing and megalomaniacs like Pottering and Red Hat.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
