> before committing to a piece of technology, it’s crucial to understand the problems it solves, and the context in which the solution was made.
On the other hand, I think the title is doing it a huge disservice. Because, unfortunately, a lot of people don't read beyond the title, and that only helps to perpetuate the anti-k8s/Istio/devops sentiment that has become so popular and pervasive lately.
Are there a lot of situations where a service mesh complicates things and causes more problems than it's worth? Absolutely. Are there a lot of situations where a service mesh will really help? Without a doubt. Should you use it when you build your personal niche side-project? Probably not. But maybe a goal of your side project is to learn Istio - in which case, you totally should use it.