tl;dr: You would need a relatively simple Node.js/Express based backend for Apex, compared to its current AWS API Gateway + AWS Lambda backend. Maybe TJ could

tl;dr: You would need a relatively simple Node.js/Express based backend for Apex, compared to its current AWS API Gateway + AWS Lambda backend. Maybe TJ could correct any inaccuracies here: It sounds very much like the Node.js shim used for local testing or other languages could be enhanced to listen to a TCP port rather than use stdin/stdout. At which point, instead of just using the shim for local testing, you could deploy Apex + Shim to any VM and port. No more lock in.