Which is the point, when the goal is to self-host someone else's application.

If you're just interested in learning how networks work, or what http is, or how to write software - then sure, go tinker with apache or nginx.

If you're trying to self host, containers are great. They do exactly what you've said - applications become (mostly) pushbutton components where the contract is simple and clear (data/ports/env).

And yes - there certainly is a bit of a learning curve for containers, but I'd much rather learn containers once than have to learn the ins & outs of the 25 apps I self host. For the most part, I neither want nor care to learn how they were put together. There simply isn't enough time, and the value is low.

Again - the goal here is NOT to host a blog/website I've made. It's to self-host applications other folks have put together, and that seems to be where this reference can be valuable.