Linkerd 1.0 and Istio are traditional service meshes; you install them in their totality across an entire platform. They are rich in features and bulky, completely overkill for a single service.
Linkerd 2.0 follows a new bottoms-up model that is, frankly, non-traditional. An individual service owner can install a lightweight package on a single service and derive immediate value. When multiple service owners on a project adopt Linkerd 2.0, their services will properly "mesh" without any platform-level installs. This makes adoption organic and immediately valuable for a single dev but also for an entire project as it gets installed into more services. Game changing IMHO.
Linkerd 2.0 follows a new bottoms-up model that is, frankly, non-traditional. An individual service owner can install a lightweight package on a single service and derive immediate value. When multiple service owners on a project adopt Linkerd 2.0, their services will properly "mesh" without any platform-level installs. This makes adoption organic and immediately valuable for a single dev but also for an entire project as it gets installed into more services. Game changing IMHO.