For a long time the Debian users have been requesting the integration of a package repository similar to the AUR one in Arch Linux and we can see this in the reddit forums (for example in this link). Why for so long this idea has not been implemented it was due to compilation problems in the packages it represented at the time, which unlike Arch Linux is much simpler.
This "little" problem it for a long time prevented Debian users from being able to enjoy an analog of the AUR repository for them and even though the Debian package repositories have a large number of packages, the truth is that a repository like AUR (of this class that allows third parties to include their packages) would allow users to access many more and about All have updates and new versions of popular packages in less time, since the inclusion of updates in the main repository takes days.
But this is over Well, a few days ago the enthusiasts have launched the DUR repository (Debian User Repository), which is positioned as an analog of the AUR (Arch User Repository) repository for Debian, allowing third-party developers to distribute their packages without including them in the main repositories of the distribution. As with the AUR, the metadata and package build instructions in the DUR are defined using the PKGBUILD format.
That is, a way has been found to eliminate the difficulty of third parties detracting in the creation of deb packages, as this can now be provided from PKGBUILD files with the help of the makedeb toolkit, which is an analog of makepkg. It also includes the mpm package manager, which allows you to extract and install packages from the AUR and Arch Linux repositories, and the makedeb-db utility to replace Arch Linux-specific dependencies with Debian dependencies.
The DUR was designed to help users who use makedeb on Debian systems to more easily find and build their favorite packages that may not be in your distribution's repositories. DUR was also made to solve a persistent problem with alternatives like PPAs, centralization.
With PPAs, you only get a select group of packages with each repository. In addition to this, PPAs require adding additional signing keys to your system, they can easily get out of date, and they can become difficult to manage when you want to remove them from your system.
In DUR you are inside a central repository, which means you don't have to search multiple repositories for the packages you want.
The DUR also makes it easy for users to start sharing their own packages by using the PKGBUILD package format. Other Debian-based build utilities often require multi-file setup and require more complex setup compared to PKGBUILD, which in most circumstances only consists of a single file.
The Toolkit Prepared allows Debian to use packages created for AUR and the main Arch Linux repositories, including installing packages directly from AUR / Arch. For the distribution of packages prepared by the community for Debian, a separate DUR repository has been proposed, in which 4 packages are currently distributed, including the Element Desktop Matrix client.
DUR, like AUR, instead of relying on the distribution as a whole, manipulates the trust in each individual developer who contributes their packages to the AUR / DUR. To separate useful packages from questionable ones, a rating system based on user voting is used, as well as tags assigned as a result of content analysis by verified participants. The integrity of the packages is confirmed by the digital signature of each developer.
Finally, for those who are interested in being able to add this repository, they can review the documentation In the following link. You can visit the repository from this link.
This generates a doubt in me; Does DUR make sense now when the Debian community could collaborate directly from AUR on package development, maintenance, update and reliability? Because if now they can have AUR to install packages in Debian, it would not be very different now AUR of projects like OINm since under this scheme if the distributions based on Debian adopt this way of building packages to install them, basically AUR would become LUR ( Linux Universal Repository).
He considered that the idea of a universal repository is more suitable.
In debian it is not necessary at all, debian is super assorted of packages and does not need to copy from anyone. Debian is committed to security and let's say what we want, it is not safe, that anyone can upload a package there, that should not even exist. That's why I don't use or like arch. This will not succeed, if not time to time. In debian they are very purist and conservative and this is not good for Linux.
That is up to everyone, just because it is an option does not mean that everyone will use it, and no, Debian is not full of "packages" as you mention, there are hundreds of packages that lack updates, such as libc6, qt5 or even the same GNU tools, Debian tends to have a VERY SLOW update cycle, not including the fact that the FFMPEG it offers does not have NVENC support and it is a complete drag to compile it without problems.
That's mentioning a few that Debian hasn't fixed since Debian 7, which has been my main distro since then, you mess around more with Debian than Arch Linux itself.