Another option is cachyos, it’s based on arch (bleeding edge distro) It’s also known for being faster than other distros and optimized for speed (didn’t try it myself)

Not specifically a nixos issue, also at least nix gives you rollbacks

Ig vr is getting better

It’s sad and depressing seeing the world in such a state

I use gdu personally

Flatpak is surprisingly low

Have you tried theming gnome? There’s a ton of videos on youtube if you’re a beginner, i wonder if you’ll have the same thoughts after theming it