Looks like cargo cult for me.
Cargo cult is not in using Docker, but in using Docker to wrap something already wrapped into a comparable layer of abstraction.
Besides,
> not polluting my OS (filesystem and processes) with bits and bobs I downloaded off the internet
is purely self-deception. It's not like Docker images are not stored in some folder deep in the filesystem. If anything, it's harder to clean up after Docker than just doing rm -rf on a directory with llamafiles.
There are tradeoffs hers. For some people the tradeoff of a single executable file with everything in it compared to setting up a Docker system is worthwhile.
I am not trusting that a tradition virus / etc scanner will find stuff hidden in executable models.