The caveat is, there's no common baseline for libraries. Graphics libraries, the libc itself, GUI widget libraries etc. will appear in different version combinations in different distributions, since they have different release schedules.
So if you want to go the Windows/MacOS route and ship a readily compiled program for Linux, you have to vendor in a loooot more libraries, and they have a higher risk of breaking due to incompatibilities (kernel interface for your graphics driver changed, configuration file syntax for your font renderer changed, etc.)
Flatpaks/snaps try to solve this (poorly) by vendoring the entire kitchen sink and then some, which just creates more bloat and a worse DLL hell than Windows could ever have dreamed of. So using it for everything isn't really feasible still.
Simply don't vendor glibc and graphics drivers and you will be fine. Vendoring drivers doesn't make sense anyway as your application will be obsolete by the next HW cycle.
upstream didn't build with all the dependencies at the same version as the latest in the arch repo. Nor are most upstream developers bumping all their dependency versions constantly
if you're a big player like ubuntu/debian you can go to the authors/upstream and ask them to fix the program to work with their dependency versions (in say.. an LTS release). most would be glad to bc it's just something upstream needs to do once every couple years and doesn't need maintenance. If even thats too much and yyou want esomething even more handsoff/timeless then you make an Appimage. It'll work for ever
With Arch youd need to constantly monitor the thing doesn't break？Are they just #yolo'ing dependency versions most of the time ？ (itd prolly work 99% of the time..)
You're expected to run most apps as flatpaks.
Honestly, if you just want the naked OS, you don't need a distro at all.
Or just don't use the package manager.
I personally do mind very much. Just the differences in startup times between apt and snap applications are huge and I would absolutely despise working with such a sluggish system. I would rather build everything myself from source if forced to.
With maintainers in the loop, there is at least one more person that can notice something is fishy. Not to mention there is usually so time before packages are updated, so there is more time to notice an attack.
You have apparently no idea how much it costs to recompile everything, every single time that openssl fixes a bug.
I much prefer the f-droid model, of having curated repositories to keep crap outside.
Also, I can't understand why people on the internet think that upstream developers are omniscient. They make lots of mistakes and errors. Distribute maintainers fix a lot of things, and send the fixes to the authors.
Bugs should be fixed upstream, not kept in distro specific silos. There's no reason why only a packager can fix some upstream issues or become a contributor. On the contrary shipping your app as a universal tech like flatpak means Redhat, Debian, Arch or any other user can use it, develop for it, and send fixes upstream.
No other desktop OS has done it like Linux and for good reason. People have been citing this as a reason they don't want to use Linux as a desktop for decades to mostly deaf ears, who then turn around and wonder loudly why no one wants to use their OS. Hell, even Linus Torvalds himself complained about it.
For decades, Linux package managers have been the killer app for Linux. They made installing and updating every single one of your applications trivial. You didn't google for sketchy download sites and unsigned exe's. You didn't have to fight the system to cleanly uninstall things. Even release upgrades were the smoothest thing ever. In 25 years, I've never had a Debian release upgrade go wrong.
Anyone bitching about package managers as user hostile is a flat out idiot.
If you want the dystopian hellhole you seemingly long for, just use Android and enjoy the ad-infested crapware? No reason to moan about things you seemingly don't understand.
