.deb is a format in the same way that .tar.gz is a format. If Fedora or Arch used .deb the problem would no better because each distro has its own package names

.deb is a format in the same way that .tar.gz is a format. If Fedora or Arch used .deb the problem would no better because each distro has its own package names, its own package versions, and its own downstream patches.