Don't tell me desktop linux. It's not fit for purpose and doesn't run the software I need it to run. I do not want to run Linux. I, frankly, do not like what Linux evolved into. The desktop linux of 15 years ago was sort of acceptable. Modern systems infected with pulseaudio, systemd, and whatever the fuck gnome and kde have turned into are not. I'd rather run Windows, and I hate Windows.
Also I think you're cargo culting. You have problems with existence of systemd while praising an OS that doesn't even allow you to disable transition animation delays when changing virtual screens. It's not logical.
Btw, pulseaudio is old news, now it's pipewire.
I'm using linux-native software all the time, that has no equivalents in other systems.
Ultimately though, package managers (whether it's apt, dnf, Steam, some app store, etc) are the best for most people, myself included.