I care about it, but I also understand that hell will freeze over before Apple stand up on the stage in front of their worldwide developer community and tell them that the Apple Store fees and the Apple Developer subscription cost aren't necessary after all. If they do allow side-loading for legal compliance, it's practically guaranteed that the option to switch it on will be slid into a minor-point release in a difficult-to-find menu with no fanfare whatsoever. It makes no sense for them to advertise the capability and I would be surprised if it even makes it into the release notes.
I'm sure dozens, maybe even hundreds, of people care
I'd say it's more, with the EU Digital Markets Act.
EU lawmakers, famously known for being the pinnacle of The Will of the People
Not much of a surprise. Apple won't introduce installing downloaded apps unless they're forced, and the EU law that'll force them to enable external sources won't be enforced until next year.