I see this take a lot but I'd argue what Docker did was to entice everyone to capture their build into a repeatable process (via a Dockerfile).
"Ship your machine to production" isn't so bad when you have a ten-line script to recreate the machine at the push of a button.
Exactly my feeling. Docker is "works on this machine" with an executable recipe to build the machine and the application. Newer better solutions like OCI-compliant tools will gradually replace Docker, but the paradigm shift has provided a lot of lasting value.
Yeah docker codifies what the process to convert a base linux distro in to a working platform for the app actually is. Every company I've worked at that didn't use docker just has this tribal knowledge or an outdated wiki page on the steps you need to take to get something to work. Vs a dockerfile that exactly documents the process.