I'm still wrapping my head around why someone could be smart enough to feel that core might not have our best interests all the time, but dumb enough to turn to crazy luke for deliverance. knots is just core with stupid changes added by a mentally ill weirdo. if they were really serious they would throw their weight behind much more serious projects like libbitcoin or something entirely new. client diversity in the bitcoin landscape looks like a complete joke compared to client diversity in the ethereum landscape.
Discussion
Yes, more options for node implementations is what's needed. Would be nice to see if libbitcoin gets some traction and more attention. A wider use would require a easy setup process with one of those node solutions like start9 or umbrel. But I guess this is light years away.