When it comes to strokes, a line is a box

I've been meaning to ask this for the last 10 years or so 😁

Line tool: it's not really a line is it? It's a very narrow box.  Which is fine, most of the time. Unless you want a dotted or dashed line, when it becomes a dog's dinner.

So yes you can use the path tool to make a non-enclosed path, but I'm left thinking - and asking here - that surely this isn't how it was designed?  That adobe wouldn't have left something so clunky for so long, and that it must be idiot user error. Please tell me I'm an idiot and how to draw a dashed or dotted line with the line tool that doesn't look like it's been made with powerpoint.