“A standard config format, a deployment method, an overlay network, service discovery, immutable nodes, and an API server. Dear friend, you have built a Kubernetes.”
The path starts with “Kubernetes is overkill” and ends six months later in shell scripts, Ansible, Tailscale and a homemade proxy for the Docker socket. Every step solves one real problem and adds one more thing only its author understands. Then the author goes on vacation. Avoiding complexity by building it yourself just means nobody else can fix it.