I don't really dispute much you say here (although I'd argue that calling Dockers API an "ecosystem" and "best practices" is a stretch, do you write your dockerfiles the same way you did today as in 2013?). Like yes, k8s had to come after docker. What I dispute is how any of that is the spiritual successor of heroku (or GAE or any other PaaS).
And even then I think you understimate googles contribution of "we've literally been doing container orchestration for longer than anyone else, here's tooling that is built with lessons we've learned in mind". That's far more than just "money and influence", and I don't think it's "exploitative".
That's a very fair criticism of my use of "exploited". And also I accept that "ecosystem" could be a descriptive stretch for Docker's release day.
I think in the same way that you're concerned I'm misrepresenting Google, I'm concerned that the documentary misrepresents the landscape of developers and projects that set the scene for Google's Kubernetes. Yes Google made significant contributions to the story that led up to Kubernetes, but crucially, I believe they didn't nurture the culture, they didn't create the mindset that makes developers (and managers) ready to think in a containerised way. And I think that's important because the smaller voices that did make those innovations easily get drowned out by the might of Google.
And even then I think you understimate googles contribution of "we've literally been doing container orchestration for longer than anyone else, here's tooling that is built with lessons we've learned in mind". That's far more than just "money and influence", and I don't think it's "exploitative".