Maybe you have mis-identified the "bullies?"
SystemD is to Red Hat what OOXML is to Microsoft. They can claim it's "open" but really it is a vendor lock-in scam.
SystemD is a decision made by a few some execs at a for-profit corporation. It is absolutely not something the community was asking for.
I am sick of this Microsoft-like "the decision has already been made, why are you arguing? SystemD is inevitable, just accept it. Because we say so. So FU take it and shut up."
I am sick of the astroturfing bullshit constantly insinuating that SystemD opponents are just "haters" and a tiny handful of "UNIX grey beards."
SystemD is nothing less than a hostile take over of Linux by Red Hat. The entire scam is right out of Microsoft's playbook.