When you're comparing Kubernetes "recommended, canonical deployments" to "just launching a monolith and database on a Linux box (or two) in the corner" the latter is obviously going to seem simpler. The point is the k8s analogue of that isn't actually complicated. If you've seen teams waste months making it complicated, that was their choice.
If you’re running things differently and getting tons of value with little investment, kudos! Keep on keeping on!
What I’ve seen is that the vast majority of teams that pick up k8s also drink the micro service kool-aid and build a mountain of bullshit that costs far more than it creates.
