For macOS (which is what we're talking about in a topic about notarization), you can sell your software any way you want outside of the App Store, without the 30% cut. There's still a $100/year developer account fee to be able to notarize new builds of your app.

This is not iOS where the App Store is the only way to install an app.

This comment is not an endorsement of any aspect of Apple's business model, I'm just correcting a factual error in your comment.

Cheap considering buying a proper certificate for signing and releasing on Windows will often cost you the same. ;P

If your bar to hit is Linux, you'll never be happy with anything.

Not everyone has the same difficulties the author did.

XCode notarization does work for many developers, perhaps even the majority! It is a fragile process, though, and the author is not the only one for whom it fails.