If you strace to ss -s, it uses the same files than the article.

ss is also one of the biggest travesties: every other UNIX-like and UNIX OS has netstat, just GNU/Linux won’t because someone thinks they know better.

Unlike other Unix, Linux doesn't control its userland. net-tools (ifconfig, netstat, arp, route, etc.) was maintained by a separate person, was mostly a dead project (it has been revived very recently) and many scripts heavily relied on their interface (both input and output). To be able to push new features, kernel devs had to develop a set of tools to expose those features to users in a coherent way.

So, yes, maybe they know better.

Only in GNU/Linux can it happen that core networking utilities like netstat, arp and ifconfig fall into neglect. Because no, they don't know any better.

Not just UNIX-like, Windows also has netstat