[forgotpwd16]

>which don't have any benefit of being a part of a "build" system anyways

Building a package doesn't imply compilation of the binaries the package is composed from. Packages are meant to provide easier distribution and maintenance.

[iotku]

I don't particularly disagree, but rather I've viewed the AUR as having value in that you can change build options (for instance enabling/disabling features) that may not exist in pre-existing binary builds.

The distribution aspect of the AUR is useful given the various tooling/helper utilities around it, but I don't see it as more effective than flatpak if you're just using binaries that already exist. While the AUR is a bit more of a direct path, you don't have to worry about system level dependencies changing and breaking the binaries with flatpak (even if that does result in more disk usage as a side-effect).