It's interesting you didn't mention Docker once in all of that. I agree with most of what you said, but paying for Docker Enterprise gets you integration with k8s that makes the complexity tolerable and manageable, and also includes all that extra shit that needs to be included. Docker Inc seems to be all-in on this as a core part of their business, so for all the half-hearted ennui of AWS, Docker Inc seems to be heavily invested in solving the problem.