I agree that it's not really needed in the Linux world, but I disagree with your conclusion about the reason.
It addresses libraries the same as anything else, make the libraries also fat binaries and there you go.
The bigger issue I see with it is that fat binaries really only make sense when you only have the binary and are giving that directly to untrained users. It was great for Apple because that's exactly how their platform was used, and through their various architecture transitions fat binaries significantly eased the pain because users didn't have to care which kind of Mac they had.
When you have a package manager style infrastructure that builds from source like every meaningful Linux distribution, suddenly it doesn't really offer anything in most cases. Users just ask the package manager to install something and it deals with the architecture stuff behind the scenes. Unless you're trying to create a single disk image that boots on multiple architectures it's just needless bloat.
From a technical perspective I love the thought that it'd be possible to build a single disk that could boot on any platform anyone cares about, but from a practical perspective I can't see any real purpose for such a thing to exist beyond "because we can".
It addresses libraries the same as anything else, make the libraries also fat binaries and there you go.
The bigger issue I see with it is that fat binaries really only make sense when you only have the binary and are giving that directly to untrained users. It was great for Apple because that's exactly how their platform was used, and through their various architecture transitions fat binaries significantly eased the pain because users didn't have to care which kind of Mac they had.
When you have a package manager style infrastructure that builds from source like every meaningful Linux distribution, suddenly it doesn't really offer anything in most cases. Users just ask the package manager to install something and it deals with the architecture stuff behind the scenes. Unless you're trying to create a single disk image that boots on multiple architectures it's just needless bloat.
From a technical perspective I love the thought that it'd be possible to build a single disk that could boot on any platform anyone cares about, but from a practical perspective I can't see any real purpose for such a thing to exist beyond "because we can".