"Download this blob and run it to install software systemwide" isn't something that works well on any platform anymore, FWIW, and you shouldn't do it even (especially) if it's cleanly package in a self-executing installer.
Ubuntu provides thunderbird both as a stable release and as a containerized snap with rolling release semantics. Snap downloads are authenticated and secure. Get it from here if you want the latest and greatest, though they haven't blessed 102 as stable yet (it's still "latest/candidate" as of right now): https://snapcraft.io/thunderbird
In this case, though, I think you're complaining overmuch. What you got was a tarball intended for install from the command line, which is a distribution format well-understood by Linux hackers since before most of the commenters here were born. It's certainly not a "basic usability problem" to provide software in a consistent format for 30 years!
Ubuntu provides thunderbird both as a stable release and as a containerized snap with rolling release semantics. Snap downloads are authenticated and secure. Get it from here if you want the latest and greatest, though they haven't blessed 102 as stable yet (it's still "latest/candidate" as of right now): https://snapcraft.io/thunderbird
In this case, though, I think you're complaining overmuch. What you got was a tarball intended for install from the command line, which is a distribution format well-understood by Linux hackers since before most of the commenters here were born. It's certainly not a "basic usability problem" to provide software in a consistent format for 30 years!