Thing is, the AUR isn't really meant to be your primary repo. You can really get anything into the AUR.
The reason why I love it so much is because if I need a package that's not in the main arch repo (which tbh isn't many), then I don't need to bother going to some github page and compiling from source, I can just find it in the AUR and it's all done for me. I did this with things like goverlay and it's one thing that I immediately miss when I distro hop away from something arch-based.
Capitalism. Companies go public (or already were public) and then they can no longer be happy with what they had and need to acheive infinite profit growth. That's partially why companies like Valve, that are still luckily entirely private, can make seemingly consumer-focused decisions and not just chase infinite profits. That's how they've been able to invest so heavily in Linux with such little short term gains. Valve still makes shitty decisions sometimes but it would be 10x worse if they decided to go public.
Main reason I like the AUR is for really niche packages that aren't in any main repos. Smaller github projects, forks of main projects that fix bugs, basically anything that you would otherwise have to compile from source is on the AUR. And while you still might have to compile it, it's all setup and managed for you, which I really like.
It's fairly safe to assume that all third party reddit apps will be shutting down. The price they've been quoted for API access is simply too high, and I don't think any of the devs are rich enough to keep it running out of their own pockets. I wouldn't be surprised to see some apps try to stay up, but I highly doubt they can last long term.
Either that or they'd have to start charging each user tons of money, and/or disabling free users entirely.
In the recent AMA it was said that apps that focus on accessibility might get free access, but based on what devs are saying about having trouble getting in touch with anyone at reddit, I wouldn't get your hopes up.
I've never had an easier time watching movies and shows then when I finally setup sonarr and radarr. Only bad thing about it is waiting for downloads, but it always finds the thing I want.
If reddit kills my patched third party app then I'm done using it on mobile, and if they kill old.reddit then I'm done using it on desktop. I'd switch to Lemmy or kbin full time but the content variety is VERY low compared to reddit still, especially for more niche topics like specific games or hobbies.
I've had enough friends and family members lose access to critical accounts due to things like changing phone numbers, and relying on auto-signin until their cookies get cleared, that I've begun just recommending password managers to everyone.
But alas, most don't listen.
I've been using Sync for Reddit with my own API key patched into it (there's some guides on how to do it for most of the popular apps!) and NSFW content still shows for me, including NSFW subs. I read that they were supposed to be stopping that on July 5th and it's currently the 6th. Still can happen, but perhaps there's a chance they're not stopping NSFW for personal API use?
Find it hilarious how perfectly this solution solves all of the problems reddit spoke about.
Reddit not profitable enough? Not enough premium subs? Third party app users can't view ads? Api use is too high and you're not making money off of it? Making premium a prerequisite for third party app use hits all 4 birds with one stone lol.
Yeah if the AUR can stop me from having to compile even just one package from instructions on a github page (like with corectrl, which I also use lol), then it's enough for me to keep using arch. I will say, AUR is in the normal arch repo I think? But there's other packages I've used in the past that I can't find in there, like specific versions of mangohud or gamescope, goverlay, etc.
AUR still means you gotta compile sometimes, but it's so much less of a hassle to just search the AUR and hit go then to mess around compiling something manually.
My point isn't that valve is our friend (they're not), my point is that they're more easily able to make decisions that aren't purely driven by short term gains. Decisions like that are usually better for the consumer. They're still a company and companies exist to make money, but they have a lot more freedom to choose the ways in which they go about that.
The Linux investment, yes was made out of a fear of windows, but is also not something most other companies would be able to do with how long term it is. It's not out of altruism but it's a lot more beneficial for consumers then the short term focused investors that drive most other companies.
I feel like all the games I've sunken more then 50 hours into have some merit tbh. I've never really been into those super grinding or janky games that seem to be the target of the comments haha.