Yes, they don't solve the problem of distributing messy UNIX software with complex and unstable dependency graphs, written for systems with anemic base libraries, that install a litter of files all over your system.
That's a good thing. In fact, I'd say the world would be a better place if we'd never implemented package managers and instead UNIXes were finally forced to clean up their mess. The real world doesn't work that way, so instead the best we can do is create new systems that don't inherit the mistakes of the old.
> I am yet to meet a non-technical Linux user who has experienced what could be described as "package management disaster". Software management is mostly automated for their use cases.
Use cases like, say, trying a new piece of software that hasn't been packaged?
Getting updates directly from the vendor?
Being able to have their vendor-supplied applications continue to work across major OS releases?
Or how about from the vendor perspective, where we have to deal with mistake-prone volunteers packaging up our software, inconsistent and incompatible libraries and an ever-shifting dependency graph. The only reason anything ever works at all is because there are hundreds/thousands of people whose sole contribution is to keep the entire dependency graph afloat. Just how many human hours do you think are spent on software packaging overhead?
> I solve my problems, you solve yours. Deal with it.
Thanks for elucidating exactly why Linux developed shouldn't be anywhere near the design process for consumer software like an OS.