It can be hosted without Systemd:
sudo runuser -u cockpit-wsinstance -- /usr/libexec/cockpit-ws --port=9090 --for-tls-proxy
sudo runuser -u cockpit-wsinstance -- /usr/libexec/cockpit-ws --port=9090 --for-tls-proxy
And of course, we'd still need to reimplement many of the existing systemd-based modules. I wonder if the creation and maintenance of these modules (given the existing size and status of the ecosystem) is less-than-trivial in comparison to something like a set of NixOS config bindings. At the end of the day, I'd be more exited about a project that puts portability and customization first than retrofitting an upstream product to whom I'm not a target user.
Note: Not understanding the concerns with systemd or dbus. This works for major distros.