Correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I know Docker actually does run a binary called /sbin/init, it's just that they've replaced it in the base images with so

Correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I know Docker actually does run a binary called /sbin/init, it's just that they've replaced it in the base images with something that is more suited for fast startup times and running of a single process. Setting the Docker start command to init will probably not accomplish what you want.