Aside from simplicity, there aren't any major advantages AFAIK. Even in 2024, it only takes about 5 minutes to set up a system with Lighttpd and CGI. When all y

Aside from simplicity, there aren't any major advantages AFAIK. Even in 2024, it only takes about 5 minutes to set up a system with Lighttpd and CGI. When all you have to do is expose an existing binary over the web, then HTTP<->CGI<->Binary is pretty convenient. Just write a tiny CGI wrapper and you can call it a day. Edit: missed a bit of context, so here's a more relevant answer: Long lived process with extra steps, yes, but the key part is that the CGI binary (and the webserver) are sacrificial. They handle input validation and all that nasty stuff, while the real application is safely tucked away. If the CGI binary dies, or the web server crashes, things become unreachable but otherwise operational. It's occasionally a useful characteristic.