The thing is, I don't use Kubernetes for convenience or because I need it, I use to learn it.
I was just fine with Docker Swarm before switching, but I wanted to learn Kubernetes as a valuable skill, and I know no better way of learning something than using it every day.
And the thing about Kubernetes distros is that they usually all apply a new layer of "turning Kubernetes' complexity into a turn-key process", and I don't want that.
If you know the ins and outs of K8s, sure, use any distro you like, but if you want to learn something, better learn the fundamentals first. It's like learning Linux's internals instead of learning how Ubuntu is, one applies to a single distro and the other will apply for every distro ever.
At this point I consider myself pretty knowledgeable on Kubernetes.
I bought Kubernetes Up & Running a year ago, I was disappointed to see it is a very over-the-top view, without getting into details.
I skimmed over Kubernetes in Action a couple months ago. Nothing really catched my eye either.
The last one I read was Kubernetes Security by Liz Rize. Either there's not that much to securing Kubernetes or the book is very introductory too.
The only parts of K8s I don't know a lot about are storage (haven't got past the NFS driver yet), CRDs and distributions like OpenShift. But in the same way I'm lacking storage expertise outside of Kubernetes.
The thing is, I don't use Kubernetes for convenience or because I need it, I use to learn it.
I was just fine with Docker Swarm before switching, but I wanted to learn Kubernetes as a valuable skill, and I know no better way of learning something than using it every day.
And the thing about Kubernetes distros is that they usually all apply a new layer of "turning Kubernetes' complexity into a turn-key process", and I don't want that.
If you know the ins and outs of K8s, sure, use any distro you like, but if you want to learn something, better learn the fundamentals first. It's like learning Linux's internals instead of learning how Ubuntu is, one applies to a single distro and the other will apply for every distro ever.