Is it hard to run the basic software to have a self-hosted e-mail server? No. Is it an utter PITA to have to chase a dragon's tail of stupid things that you do

Is it hard to run the basic software to have a self-hosted e-mail server? No. Is it an utter PITA to have to chase a dragon's tail of stupid things that you don't control to have RELIABLE e-mail? Yes. While running your own server is great for a hobby or as a learning exercise, 99%+ of people just want e-mail to WORK. And many of the big providers have an endless amount of hoops to jump through, and have little to no transparency or feedback when things aren't working.