"A profitable operation will take a lot of time, effort and capital, and even with those ingredients, the return will be probably tiny."

Agreed. This article Nate wrote also covers exactly that. 

https://voltage.cloud/blog/bitcoin-lightning-network/are-lightning-nodes-profitable/

I will add that near the end for further reading.

bshell

As much as I don't think the blog post has an evil intention, and while I agree with most of what is explained, I can't help but feel it might misguide some newbies.

A profitable operation will take a lot of time, effort and capital, and even with those ingredients, the return will be probably tiny. I believe a mention to this reality would help manage the expectations of those readers who are not very experienced in operating lightning nodes.

bitcoin

Low Time Preference Routing Node | Spend and Earn Sats

As much as I don't think the blog post has an evil intention, and while I agree with most of what is explained, I can't help but feel it might misguide some newbies. 

A profitable operation will take a lot of time, effort and capital, and even with those ingredients, the return will be probably tiny. I believe a mention to this reality would help manage the expectations of those readers who are not very experienced in operating lightning nodes.