True, but that adds another layer of complexity to an already complex system. If I'm using the ansible module, that's complex enough. Throwing in management of Kubernetes and the additional cruft containers adds- it seems like it's a lot of hassle for little gain.

I see this argument relatively frequently. "Why use Kubernetes when I can accomplish X with [puppet|chef|ansible]".

The answer is that k8s offers something fundamentally different and until the person posing the question gets that distinction, the argument is relatively pointless.

I'm not just bowing behind the argument that "you just don't get it... man". Let me point out that you're right. You can manage the openstack control plane perfectly well with your configuration management tool of choice and if you have that process really dialed, then you'll have a difficult time improving upon it with something like k8s.