I'd love to see a comparison between Maesh and Linkerd v1 -- sidecar-based meshes like Istio (AKA coordinated envoy) and API gateways like Kong are not direct competitors with Maesh, Linkerd v1 is. Is Maesh a newer imagining of what Linkerd v1 sought to do? Is it a better k8s-integrated solution?
At first glance the difference is proxy on the node and not per pod. It is also K8s centric where L5d is easier compatible and has way more more powerful configuration options and runs on vms as well. I would say that L5d 2.0 would be the direct competitor. They are both: small, simple, opt-in, K8s centric, and support SMI.
l5d v1 is the direct competitor, but is just theoretically lacking k8s integration, though it actually is usable with k8s, I've written about it on my tiny tiny k8s cluster.
Basically what I'm wondering is how much better the integration is for Maesh
[0]: https://vadosware.io/post/up-and-running-with-linkerd-v1/