The only React-related problems the article describes are API changes (which are generally announced via deprecation messages if you don't skip several releases

The only React-related problems the article describes are API changes (which are generally announced via deprecation messages if you don't skip several releases when upgrading) and invalid DOM nesting (which is just React becoming less messy). Everything else seems to be the result of forcing a square peg in a round hole, i.e. using non-standard tooling. As much as I can understand the desire to have one set of tooling to rule them all, if I were using Ruby/Python/PHP/Java for my backend I wouldn't expect to be able to integrate my backend tooling with the Gulp/Grunt/WebPack I might use to build the frontend. Expecting to be able to do the same the other way around is just as arrogant, especially if you then blame the ecosystem you're trying to avoid for the incompatibilities you're experiencing.