They "lost everything" because they failed to set up even the most basic and critical maintenance functions built into ZFS. I don't think the responsibility in this incident could fall any more squarely on the shoulders of the people who set it up.
You do need a notification feature as well, which is tricky because a distro can't assume you'll setup mail properly, but maybe something like make samba go read only when the zpool is degraded could work.
It's funny thinking back now when LTT asked why MKBHD didn't ask for help when he wanted a DAS.