There are many forms of Kubernetes that are not using etcd that are certified by the CNCF as conformant (https://www.cncf.io/training/certification/software-con

There are many forms of Kubernetes that are not using etcd that are certified by the CNCF as conformant (https://www.cncf.io/training/certification/software-conformance/ https://www.cncf.io/training/certification/software-conforma...). The version in the kubernetes/kubernetes repository is a reference implementation, intended to be customized by the community.