I think author is totally ignoring the maintenance overhead that kubernetes comes with compared to ECS. Getting up and running with the most complex Kubernetes setup is easy for a long time now. For that, there are tons of CLIs that would boot strap a cluster in a cloud and if not that, you have very actively maintained Ansible playbooks and what not.
It is the upgrade path where the friction comes from.
It is the upgrade path where the friction comes from.