snapd could be pointed to another store if somebody wanted to make one. But the Ubuntu Snap Store is free to use and open to anyone, and having them all in one

snapd could be pointed to another store if somebody wanted to make one. But the Ubuntu Snap Store is free to use and open to anyone, and having them all in one location makes discovery so much easier. The limitation on snapcraft is technical, not intentional, and it's being worked on to make snapcraft itself distributable as a snap, so it will work on any distro that snaps work on.