However, that's a function of the browser, and not of the OS itself. If I were to do that using Firefox on Windows or Linux, it would save as a file regardless. So, my gripe would be that he apparently can't distinguish problems with the OS itself, and those of software running on the platform.
I think having software more centralized not only makes things easier but also reduces the "sketch factor" of downloading random executables from random websites
However, it’s still surprisingly common on Linux.
The truth is, though, Linux today already has the capabilities to make these things far more seamless than Windows or MacOS. The problem is that since the user base is so technically inclined already, they don’t see these as problems. Or if they do, they don’t see them as being important enough.
And that’s why I think the LTT challenge has been so successful in getting distributions, DEs, etc to make changes because it does a good job of showing the developers which of these issues, that may seem minor to someone with a technical background can be a complete deal breaker for a regular user.
They may not even realise that it is a potential issue. I'm a technically inclined user, and it wouldn't even occur to me to consider someone doing what Linus did there because I know because I "just know" it won't work and would gloss over it completely.
Fortunately (for everyone else) I'm not in the habit of designing UIs.