is it me, or does Microsoft just make everything either harder, or more annoying that it needs to be?...

In what way?

@MrQuaker well the current I was struggling with, was to make a docker image to run a dotnet core web api. Like, make an angular container: sure here you go.

Make a dotnet container: sure, but firdt you have to read these 5 articles, what these 3 videos, travel around the sun, give us your firstborn and let us screw you over. Maybe then it'll work