For what it's worth, Debian used to be the Universal Operating System, they still claim to be, but I can't attest that claim. Debian still offer packages for System V init for those who don't want to use systemd so in theory it should be a supported configuration, but in practice it doesn't work very well. Many things are broken or don't work properly without systemd. They provide systemd-shim, but that really is a workaround rather than a proper fix.

At first I wasn't convinced that forking Debian was the right way forward and things really ought to be fixed in Debian. After seeing Debian's lackluster responses to related bugs to get these things fixed, I was convinced that there is a real need for Devuan. freemangordon is right in that if you need systemd, all you need to do is change the repos to use Debian's instead. As for Purism, they plan to upstream everything so when they arrive in Debian, they will also end up in Devuan, maybe with the exception of GNOME stuff that is dependent on systemd.

I don't want to turn this into a systemd debate, there are plenty of those around. I actually agree with the systemd folk that System V init is broken and needs to be replaced. systemd does solve real problems, but in my opinion it is not the right solution. My main gripes with it are architectural, and the hostility and technical incompetence of the lead developer.