It is customary for open source projects that involve complicated or proprietary build processes to provide binaries which one can simply download and run. App Store releases are decidedly not this: they include DRM, and have as a requirement the provision of personal information to (and agreement to an onerous legal contract with) a third party: the app store vendor. You can't get free apps from the mac App Store without giving Apple your phone number and email address.
In the case of interpreted software (such as this) those interpreted (but nonetheless runnable) files should be modifiable. You shouldn't have to set up a toolchain (which on macOS is proprietary and requires its own EULA) to try out this software if you don’t have or want an AppleID.
If you do jump through the App Store hoops, you can't edit the app and then run it.