> to use an application the distro didn't deem worthy of inclusion in their repo.

How did you come to this conclusion? Did you request the package be included in the distro you use? If so, and it wasn't provided, provide the bug report/feature request link ...

My point is I shouldn't have to beg some third party to include it. The developer made it, I want to run it, there's no need for anyone else to be involved in this process.

So .exe files it is? You can do that on Linux as well, by the way, it's just a horribly insecure way to distribute software.

I keep hearing that, and it is of course possible, but the point is that hardly anyone does it. That's what makes it meaningless that it can be done.

And it isn't insecure. If I trust the developer and get the software from them, it's just as good as trusting a repo maintained by random internets who have been known to not only not keep software in the repo up to date, but actually introduce vulnerabilities that weren't there before!