to me, i see the app store for 5 seconds between clicking a "download" link, pressing "install", and closing it.

on my computer i don't care if spotify publishes their desktop app through the apple store, their own website, command line, or some other thing. i trust it because the download link comes from spotify's website, that's the source of authority. i don't care about the thing in between clicking download and having it on my device.

Installing an extra BS "app store" app per vendor to do the distribution, dealing with another payment processor and its intricasies (for apps you pay/subscribe for, e.g. Adobe's), multiple places to manage apps and subscriptions, and so on.

>on my computer i don't care if spotify publishes their desktop app through the apple store, their own website, command line, or some other thing.

I do, and try to get as most of the stuff from the same source as possible, preferably the Mac App Store and brew.

I also hate the "update/licensing apps" running in the background for apps I use (Chrome updater is one most would be familiar with, but there are tons, especially for pro apps), and the extra multi-app download managers/stores I'm forced to use.

And don't get me started on shit like iLok.