> I'm not sure why it's the author's responsibility to go setup a dozen different VMs. That really is the package maintainer's job.

If you're in the enviable position of having lots of people willing to put in the time to maintain your package, and a distro that thinks your software is sufficiently noteworthy to include in their distro. But if your software is relatively new and you want to encourage wide adoption, one way to help is to make the install process friendly and familiar for sysadmins as well as fellow developers. And if you speak their language that goes a long way towards building that trust.