Comment by graemep

> Most Linux apps do not bundle their dependencies, don't provide binary downloads, and aren't portable (they use absolute paths).

That is because the developers choose not to, and no one else chooses to do it for them. On the other hand lots of people package applications (and libraries) for all the Linux distros out there.

> I don't think so. They've never been given the option.

The options exist. AppImage does exactly what you want. Snap and Flatpak are cross distro, have lots of apps, and are preinstalled by many major distros.