>>1004023 (OP)
According to some proponents, it was to unify the low-level GNU/Linux userland. The problem with this idea of course being that it kills variety and choice due to being so non-modular.
Also the code is shite. They have a very lax approach to bugs, and that means many vulnerabilities will come up.
Honestly, the actual init and service management is pretty smooth and comfy on systemd. It's a shame they couldn't have just stuck to that.