I can appreciate that for most people this is not a decision. But for technically inclined people who want to learn this stuff, there's no reason to talk them out of it. Is it substantial work? Yeah, but so is running a web server or a database and those are also critical IT components that have a lot of niggling details.
There are lots of reasons to not use Gmail. Maybe $50/year is a lot for you. Maybe your needs are modest. Maybe you want the knowledge and experience of running mail. Maybe you want or need to interface your other components with mail. Maybe you don't like the rest of Google Apps. Maybe you hate the Gmail interface. Ultimately, most people will choose Gmail despite whichever of those reasons might apply. There's no need to turn a technical decision into a dogmatic one.
There are lots of reasons to not use Gmail. Maybe $50/year is a lot for you. Maybe your needs are modest. Maybe you want the knowledge and experience of running mail. Maybe you want or need to interface your other components with mail. Maybe you don't like the rest of Google Apps. Maybe you hate the Gmail interface. Ultimately, most people will choose Gmail despite whichever of those reasons might apply. There's no need to turn a technical decision into a dogmatic one.