<term><varname>rd.emergency</varname></term>
<term><varname>-b</varname></term>
- <listitem><para>Boot into emergency mode. This is equivalent
- to <varname>systemd.unit=emergency.target</varname> or
- <varname>rd.systemd.unit=emergency.target</varname>, respectively, and
- provided for compatibility reasons and to be easier to type.</para>
+ <listitem><para>Boot into emergency mode. Those options are equivalent to
+ <varname>systemd.unit=emergency.target</varname> or
+ <varname>rd.systemd.unit=emergency.target</varname>, respectively. They were initially
+ provided for compatibility with SysV, but are retained as convenient shortcuts.</para>
<xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v186"/></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term><varname>S</varname></term>
<term><varname>1</varname></term>
- <listitem><para>Boot into rescue mode. This is equivalent to
- <varname>systemd.unit=rescue.target</varname> or
- <varname>rd.systemd.unit=rescue.target</varname>, respectively, and
- provided for compatibility reasons and to be easier to type.</para>
+ <listitem><para>Boot into rescue mode. Those options are equivalent to either
+ <varname>systemd.unit=rescue.target</varname> or <varname>rd.systemd.unit=rescue.target</varname>.
+ They were initially provided for compatibility with SysV, but are retained as convenient
+ shortcuts.</para>
<xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v186"/></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term><varname>4</varname></term>
<term><varname>5</varname></term>
- <listitem><para>Boot into the specified legacy SysV runlevel.
+ <listitem><para>Shortcuts to boot into specific targets:
<varname>2</varname>, <varname>3</varname>, and <varname>4</varname> are equivalent to
<varname>systemd.unit=multi-user.target</varname>; and <varname>5</varname> is equivalent to
- <varname>systemd.unit=graphical.target</varname>, and provided for compatibility reasons and to be
- easier to type.</para>
+ <varname>systemd.unit=graphical.target</varname>. Those options were initially provided
+ for compatibility with SysV, but are retained as convenient shortcuts.</para>
<xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v186"/></listitem>
</varlistentry>