The #nix:nixos.org room on matrix is a great place to ask questions if you get stuck.

They’re both good DEs with their pros and cons. I’m glad you found something you’re happy with! For me that’s Gnome but I’ve used Plasma 5 quite a bit two and it’s a close second for me. I don’t think there’s much use in bickering over which is “better”.

As someone who’s bough several albums on bandcamp, I’m pretty sure I’ve given more money to actual artists than the average spoify user ever has through their subscription.

Home manager is great

Actually good and not pain in the ass to set up FOSS STT? 👀

Wayland if possible because it generally performes better and is actively maintained. Xorg if Wayland doesn’t support your system yet.