I've been subscribed to a mailing list for many years, of which perhaps half I actively participated in the mailing list. Almost the entire time I used alpine, a terminal mail client, hosted on a remote server, getting its mail from and sending it through gmail. A stupid setup, perhaps, but it was productive, and I wrote. Since giving up that setup (I wiped and repurposed the server) and trying to use gmail's web interface or Mac's mail application, I've been silent. So, I understand the author's desire for a setup that might seem arcane or byzantine: sometimes there's something about such a system that is comfortable and keeps you writing.
The whole export, pipeline, publish, etc is precisely so they can continue to write just words. Once you've got a setup you like, you stop fiddling and just type.
My own org mode flow has been stable for almost 7 years. I just add an entry to my org mode file, and with a few commands (or recipe), have it up on the site.