If you're writing HTML directly and SFTPing into a server, you probably are also using a shared hosting platform that offers Lets Encrypt. You don't even need t

If you're writing HTML directly and SFTPing into a server, you probably are also using a shared hosting platform that offers Lets Encrypt. You don't even need to touch a config file or install certbot in that case, you literally just click a button. If your host does not offer Lets Encrypt there are hundreds that will host bare files and do offer encryption, and migration is as simple as copy-pasting files and transferring the domain. If the owners are unreachable or dead you have bigger problems to worry about then having to click through to an unencrypted site. Dead people can't pay hosting bills. I get what you're saying with centralization but LE is not the only central point of failure here. The old web would not survive, say, VeriSign deciding to make .com worse or ICANN deciding to kill DNS. At least we can switch CAs.