Seems to me that the nuance of the OP is not about gitting gud, it's about PvP being an activity gated behind specialized builds. And I don't like that either.
Sure, there are solutions to the current imbalance of PvP. "Press J to escape". "Outfit enough to outstand the first alpha". "Hide in Solo". But that doesn't change the fact that PvP combat is one of the very few activities (in my opinion the only one complex enough to be called as such), where players actually get to directly interact with one another. For a game with multiplayer focus, to gate it behind specialized RNGineeers builds is simply a mistake.
Wouldn't the game be better if all ships, regardless of their internals, would stand a chance to win in a PvP combat encounter? I certainly think it would. More player interaction, more opportunities for those seeking out PvP combat, more diverse play sessions for those envolved in other careers, less players inclined to leave Open. Outfitting for combat should not be a requirement to stand a chance to win, it should be about longer combat sorties or the ability to quickly refit after losing a fight. Combat, or better put the ability to win in combat, should be a secondary function all ships in the Elite universe should posses, because this is how the universe is thought-out (the equivalent of the seven seas in the 34th century). And it's not the only one btw (being able to repair or assist other ships for example - the current limpet gameplay - comes to mind).