Ah. It clicks for me now. You're proposing a package management system that operates on the image level. Somehow I didn't fully understand that before.

I fully agree that "rerun the config tool on a pre-existing container" is an anti-pattern, and it's best to avoid it if at all possible. I can see how what you are proposing would be a great step in a positive direction.

I'm not convinced CM systems don't have a role, still. They are very flexible and powerful at accommodating many specialized system setup scenarios. But I think that's independent of what you're really focused on here.

Anyway, excellent and well-written article!