Yeah, I've had this happen to me. I wrote a directory in cakephp and neglected to update it. Eventually the ROI to me of updating it wasn't worth the hassle.
The one exception is if you outsource the stack updating. For example, https://letterstoanewdeveloper.com/ runs on wordpress.com. In this case, I don't have to worry about stackrot, I just have to pay the bill. If/when the bill becomes too much, then I'll convert it to HTML and host it somewhere. (And yes, if I'd done it as HTML first, I wouldn't have to make the effort.)
WordPress might indeed be a good choice for a CMS.
How well does self-hosted WordPress (without plugins) behave when updating? I would think that even major releases can be updated with a simple click and don't break anything?
WordPress right now is very much a "Let's wait and see what happens in the Matt/WPEngine debacle before committing to any new projects" kind of choice.
There is a non zero chance that Matt/Automattic/wordpress.org will get crushed in the pending lawsuit. And even if they don't, pretty much only the lawyers are going to win there, and it's unclear just how much damage either side there are prepared toi suffer in an attempt to inflict more on the opposing side. I can't see WordPress as a brand or platform that'll have much reputation left unless Matt backs down, at least not at the corporate budget and due diligence levels of project.
Would you want to try convincing your boss or a client that it's sensible to use WordPress, when the competing proposals points out just how much control Matt has personally in the project, and that he's doing shit like this: https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/7/24290394/wordpress-coms-o... ?
One of the WordPress forks (minus the wordpress.org repo and ecosystem of plugins/themes) may end up being the WP legacy, or some alternative like Ghost could end up being a much better choice, for the 10+ year ongoing low-maintenance use case discussed in the article.
WprdPress had its time. In my opinion it's now dead, but not everybody has noticed yet/
With all the drama in the platform right now (caused by one of the creators), I would suggest that anyone that isn’t already deeply invested in it for whatever reason to not start now. Its future is a big question mark right now and I’m unable to recommend it as a stable solution to anyone anymore.
WordPress offers automatic core and plugin updates now. This is rarely an issue with a site that has few plugins and customizations. That said, it's a really good idea to have regular offsite backups.
In my limited experience self-hosted wordpress is pretty good about upgrades. But if you pay for hosting (like I do), you won't have to worry about OS upgrades either.
The one exception is if you outsource the stack updating. For example, https://letterstoanewdeveloper.com/ runs on wordpress.com. In this case, I don't have to worry about stackrot, I just have to pay the bill. If/when the bill becomes too much, then I'll convert it to HTML and host it somewhere. (And yes, if I'd done it as HTML first, I wouldn't have to make the effort.)