nfsm

I have similar thoughts. I use bandcamp for smaller artists but I would recommend nicotine+ on Linux

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Uniform_look_for_Qt_and_GTK_applications
Have a look here, it might help. I can't help much, I have KDE and Hyprland but I setup theming in KDE and it also sets in Hyprland.

Well, you're already on a Debian based distro and not Ubuntu. Let it do it's thing in the most boring way :D

The LTS kernel is still version 6.6, till 12/2026, so you're up to date. I wouldn't worry.

This is the future we were promised, dumb machines doing work 24/7. I'd change it to Debian but you stick with whatever works best for you.

I also pay for it and watch it on my android TV. And I completely agree with you. But for now it's my main source of TV and I mainly follow channels I subscribe. I don't listen to music on YT, i do follow some live music channels

Thank you for the write up. It's very helpful.
I'd pick another CPU (even Intel) but I understand that you're bound to the motherboard. I'm looking for a SFF build, what's your PC-case?

I also couldn't get sddm to work from the KDE settings. I changed the sddm.conf file manually and I'm using the catpuccin theme. The Arch wiki helped (as usual).

Fedora atomic (I'm using bazzite for gaming only) have Flatpaks enabled by default and are recommended, so it integrates well with the OS.
And seeing where the Linux community is going right now, Flatpak has been widely adopted by most distros which are not Debian based. There are ways to go regarding the packaging for the developers, but there are plenty of apps already on flathub. I'm using it on arch and bazzite and have no problems so far.
I can't comment on the apps the OP requires

Security starts first with you. Most of the attacks are done though social engineering. Email phishing, dodgy webpage logins. Normal password security behaviour should fine for you to use the pc. More importantly, what is the distro you're using? Maybe consider using Flatpaks for the apps, they tend to offer more restrictions on access to the system. (Installing the torrent app as a Flatpak and only give it permissions to a specific folder) One of things I tend to do is install chromium just to login on my Google apps, Gmail, YT. But I'm more of a non data sharing freak.

Hardware issues have been fading more and more. Just recently saw a small survey in a Linux channel with about 1000 responses. And about 50% retired no issues with hardware plus a lot more that only had 1 issue (there are still some vendors who don't offer compatibility like AMD or Intel). So most people don't actually need to download drivers, it's all in the kernel.

I haven't noticed any issues. But only Plasma would be a DE. Qtile and hyprland are WM, not sure if that makes the difference.
Initially I had doubts if it would work, but so far so good.