How many software installation instructions require "sudo"? It seems to me that it's many more than should be necessary. And then the installer can do anything.

As an administrator, I'm constantly being asked by developers for sudo permission so they can "install dependencies" and my first answer is "install it in your home directory" sure it's a bit more complexity to set up your PATH and LD_LIBRARY_PATH but you're earning a six-figure salary, figure it out.

Even with sudo, macOS blocks access to some User-accessible locations:

% sudo ls ~/Pictures/Photos\ Library.photoslibrary

Password:

ls: /Users/n1503463/Pictures/Photos Library.photoslibrary: Operation not permitted