TBH i was mainly thinking about desktop applications where app stores are not really a thing (beyond Steam) and - at least in Windows - you can still use applic

TBH i was mainly thinking about desktop applications where app stores are not really a thing (beyond Steam) and - at least in Windows - you can still use applications written a couple of decades ago while the companies that made them have long dissolved. I agree about the gatekeeperness aspect of app stores too :-). At least with Android there is the ability to install APK files, though it isn't very user friendly.