"curl | sh" is no worse than "wget && tar xf && ./configure". I have yet to see anyone who knows how to audit a configure script generated by GNU autoconf, which is generally a multiple-tens-of-thousands-of-line monstrosity that generates a bunch of C files and compiles and runs them. FUD about "curl | sh" isn't rooted in any sensible security modeling.

As a general rule of thumb, if you think everyone around you is independently doing something stupid, you should first pursue the hypothesis that it is your reasoning that is flawed and not the entire rest of the world's.