Commercial kitchens, like my wife, run their knives through dishwashers all the time. But, like me, they buy stainless alloy knives like 1.4116 that can take that abuse. If your stainless steel knives are showing surface rust, (and that's all it is), then it's a higher carbon alloy to give it better edge retention rather than corrosion resistance. And that's a personal choice you make.

As far as dulling goes, why so afraid of sharpening a knife? I prefer alloys that allow me to quickly and easily touch up an edge because it rolled vs chipped like to many high end knives are prone to doing.

People get too wound up about seasoning cast iron.

Ok, class time. Let's set some basic terms and rules.

I spent many years as a toolmaker. I designed and built industrial cutting tools for a living. And there are only 2 rules you need to follow for any cutting tool. Rule 1. your cutting tool needs to be harder than what you intend to cut, pretty obvious right? Rule 2. the tool only needs to last long enough to get the job done. If it's only one cut, then that's the requirement. if it's 10,000 cuts, that is a different requirement. Anything beyond that is just, well gravy and accessories.

What you are calling 'flexibility' is better referred to as toughness. A trait than can encompass flexibility, impact resistance, and even corrosion resistance.

Hardness and 'sharpness' is a "it depends" quality. A material doesn't need to be very hard to to cut something. And 'sharpness' is a subjective term. Sharp compared to what? A piece of paper isn't very hard, yet it can be sharp enough to cut you. And a diamond is really, really hard, but unless highly modified isn't sharp enough to cut you in it's natural state. Very generally, the harder a tool is, the longer it can hold it's edge and the more brittle it will be.

Most kitchen cutlery manufacturers use stainless steel alloys that value corrosion resistance over hardness. Some don't, but most do. And while Victorinox is very mum about the exact alloy used in their cook's knife, but it's very similar to 1.4116. A very corrosion resistant stainless. Your AUS-10 can contain over twice the carbon than the 1.4116 alloy. And it's that extra carbon that not only allows AUS-10 to hold it's edge a lot longer but it's also responsible for that irritating surface rust that can show on up after you put it in the dishwasher. A 1.4116 stainless can be pretty much tossed randomly into the dishwasher everyday and never show that rust. And my wife proves it nearly every day when she does exactly that. But due the having only about half the carbon content, 1.4116 stainless will not hold it's edge nearly as long as AUS-10.

Personally, I choose more corrosion resistant knives over better edge retention in my kitchen for 2 reasons. One, after 40 years I know my wife WILL toss any and all knives into the dishwasher no matter what I say. So, not worth the argument. And two, unlike many people, I have no fear of sharpening my knives. And a stainless like 1.4116 allows me to have a high corrosion resistant knife that can be tossed into the dishwasher every day and still be quickly and easily sharpened in less than 5 minutes.