What's the driver for people who actually want an OS-provided k8s? What holds them back from using upstream releases instead? (Or given large enough team - building/patching themselves) I guess it also applies to Ubuntu/openstack to a lesser level.
If you're planning to run those as a platform, it sounds like more pain then necessary.
I prefer to use Debian packages because it conforms to conventions that make managing systems easier: predictable naming, integration with service management, logging, docs, manages.
I worked on one of the large commercial projects that offers OS-packaged k8s.
The customers were screaming for it. They want a simpla and reliable way to deploy k8s without a team of specialist, and the guarantee to receive security updates for years without having to upgrade to a new version.
If you use microk8s from ubuntu, you know that there is a team behind it who takes care of updating it, upgrading it and making it simple for you to do so.
You also know, that your issue with that setup might get noticed by someone else using the same and will fix it for you.
You get sane defaults and you get k8s optimized for the os.
I run microk8s at home. Its simple, fast, easy and works.
For many it could just be a convenience, assuming the distro way just works. With conflicting goals and approaches, you might end up worse off though. Ideally, you mostly want to spend time and effort on higher pursuits than managing or building your own platform.
> Ideally, you mostly want to spend time and effort on higher pursuits than managing or building your own platform.
I've run openstack for a while and... realistically if you run a platform, you need to have people/time to manage it. I understand from conversations about k8s that is not that much different.
If you're planning to run those as a platform, it sounds like more pain then necessary.