Well, 6 years after the original warning - one can simply choose what they like. Crux, TC, Slackware, BSD's and all that are still around. Looks like we still have a choice.
If I was a dev, and if looking for something new/different to hack on for TC with a toolset mindset, maybe S6?
I think looking beyond init systems, what concerns people now is that some applications or desktop environment contain init-specific hooks. Waaah.
Use a different application, or build one of your own. Stay flexible - that's what Unix is all about really - if you haven't built an invisible prison around you with all our free tools.
It's a bad analogy, but crying over application hooks would be like me getting totally upset when modern applications won't read my old Microsoft-Works files. I shouldn't have put all my eggs in one basket.
Freedom of choice - run the init system you like - and if your beloved applications have hooks you can't abide by - well then that's the signal to look for new application / desktop pastures.