14 DAY TRIAL // The Ubuntu Software Center is a great piece of technology that has lived its life and needs to either go away or go through a major transformation. The new Snappy packages that will be soon used in the Ubuntu desktop would be a great opportunity.
The Ubuntu Software Center brought a centralized source of applications for Ubuntu users and it can be considered one of the pioneers in this domain. So much so that there is even a rumor going around that the Mac App Store was somewhat 'ahem' inspired by the application from Canonical. Other projects have followed the example of the Ubuntu Software Center, but the truth is that the application and its paradigm are getting old.
For the most part, Ubuntu Software Center is a tool that does its job, for the most part. Double click a DEB file and the Ubuntu Software Center will install it without any hassle, provided you have the dependencies in the system. The problem is that you can also buy apps from the same store, and it's possible that you won't be able to use it.
Linux binary packaging is a nightmare
Some users would say that there are too many types of binary packages out there, and they would be right. If a developer makes an application, he can choose to release it just with the source code or can do some basic packaging for some of the biggest distros, like Ubuntu, Fedora, OpenSuSE, and anything else that you could think of. And there is probably nothing more boring than application packaging.
Every time an operating system is upgraded, say from Ubuntu 14.10 to Ubuntu 15.04, the developer needs to make sure that his package still works and if not, he needs to make a new package. Now, when you add the Ubuntu Software Center into the mix, the ability to pay for an application, and a developer that doesn't upgrade the application, it's a recipe for a disappointment.
I purchased UberWriter from the Ubuntu Software Center a while back and ran it for a few months, but the developer didn't upgrade the apps after Ubuntu was updated. Now I have a purchased app and no way of using it. I'm sure that Canonical is legally covered in this situation, but it's still not a good situation. It's also entirely possible that the same happens for many other apps.
Surprisingly enough, the developer did update his PPA, and you can install it for free now, although the application now is quite buggy and crashes all the time. More likely, UberWriter hasn't passed through the approval filter for USC.
Canonical has been working on Snappy packages for a while now, and in theory they should overcome this issue. As long as the developer puts all the dependencies in the package, it wouldn't really matter when Ubuntu gets updated. Situations like the one I described above is just one of the many reasons why the Linux packaging paradigm needs to change and why Ubuntu needs to make it work, so that other developers take notice.