Proposed patch included this time.
diff -Nru sysvinit-2.88dsf/debian/block-systemd sysvinit-2.88dsf/debian/block-systemd
--- sysvinit-2.88dsf/debian/block-systemd 1970-01-01 00:00:00.000000000 +0000
+++ sysvinit-2.88dsf/debian/block-systemd 2014-12-25 03:47:23.000000000 +0000
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+Package: systemd systemd-sysv libsystemd-daemon0 libsystemd-login0 libsystemd-journal0
+Pin: release o=Debian
+Pin-Priority: -1
diff -Nru sysvinit-2.88dsf/debian/changelog sysvinit-2.88dsf/debian/changelog
--- sysvinit-2.88dsf/debian/changelog 2014-11-11 19:34:28.000000000 +0000
+++ sysvinit-2.88dsf/debian/changelog 2014-12-25 04:10:49.000000000 +0000
@@ -1,3 +1,11 @@
+sysvinit (2.88dsf-58.1) UNRELEASED; urgency=medium
+
+ * Non-maintainer upload.
+ * Provide a sysvinit-pin package, which can be used to retain sysvinit as
+ the init system during an upgrade.
+
+ -- Michael Gilbert <mgilb...@debian.org> Thu, 25 Dec 2014 03:17:27 +0000
+
sysvinit (2.88dsf-58) unstable; urgency=low
* Fix typo in invoke-rc.d breaking upstart installations (Closes:
diff -Nru sysvinit-2.88dsf/debian/control sysvinit-2.88dsf/debian/control
--- sysvinit-2.88dsf/debian/control 2014-10-25 21:24:19.000000000 +0000
+++ sysvinit-2.88dsf/debian/control 2014-12-25 04:04:01.000000000 +0000
@@ -73,6 +73,16 @@
Specifically, this package includes:
killall5, last, lastb, mesg, pidof, service, sulogin
+Package: sysvinit-pin
+Priority: extra
+Architecture: all
+Depends: ${misc:Depends}, sysvinit-core
+Conflicts: systemd-sysv
+Description: Prevent systemd from becoming the init system, retain sysvinit
+ This package uses apt-pinning to prevent systemd from becoming the init
+ system during an upgrade. To work as expected, it should be the first new
+ package installed prior to upgrading the rest of the system.
+
Package: sysv-rc
Architecture: all
Multi-Arch: foreign
diff -Nru sysvinit-2.88dsf/debian/sysvinit-pin.install sysvinit-2.88dsf/debian/sysvinit-pin.install
--- sysvinit-2.88dsf/debian/sysvinit-pin.install 1970-01-01 00:00:00.000000000 +0000
+++ sysvinit-2.88dsf/debian/sysvinit-pin.install 2014-12-25 03:43:52.000000000 +0000
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+debian/block-systemd etc/apt/preferences.d
