This is not intending to diminish your point because I agree with you, but you can in fact make a fat binary with Node: https://github.com/nexe/nexe
I have used it when I cannot guarantee to have Node.js installed on location I am deploying app to. It works pretty well, but the C compilation of all the Node bindings took quite awhile when I was using it (about 2 years ago). I think a build of a small project took around 10 minutes at the time.
This would copy the runtime for every app you need.. Pretty sure if you used docker this wouldn't be the case but I'm 100% sure. Obviously space isn't the biggest of deals, just mentioning it.
I have used it when I cannot guarantee to have Node.js installed on location I am deploying app to. It works pretty well, but the C compilation of all the Node bindings took quite awhile when I was using it (about 2 years ago). I think a build of a small project took around 10 minutes at the time.