all good points, i think it really is just a preference thing, i keep config files in github via chezmoi and then just chezmoi apply on different machines.

i agree things get a bit messy but i try to keep the OS in a state where I can reinstall at any time without any trouble.

config files on github, pacman -S any tools i need, important docs all in the cloud already, couldnt get much simpler than that imo

i do get the desire to have a reproducible OS, just dont know that its something i need

Similar on my arch setup but using gnu stow + git-store-meta, and a little wrapper that reminds me if a particular config previously applied has had new files added to it and should be re-stow'd