But we're talking about running a server in production here.

If one can't be bothered to install what is needed, maybe one should not run a server in production?

Quickly running something on your LAN for testing is different, but if you expose it to the Internet, probably your main concern shouldn't be "this is not installed".

Parent comment asked why Ubuntu, I answered why (for me). There was no specifying on how big and what scale of production.

Large enterprise with multiple knowledgeable people on payroll have different concerns than small me.