https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/XDG_Base_Directory#Support, the situation is crap tbh and alot of devs refuse to even give you the option of switching to XDG standards for some reason. I started using flatpaks for most of my programs just to escape this.
I do know XDG standards are messy for devs to implement but at least have everything in .config or .local instead of spewing it across my home folder
Yeah the desktop site especially is why i wanted to leave reddit for the past few months, im happy they shot themselves in the foot the past week so we could move over to a different platform.
I kept having to switch back to old.reddit just to see a NSFW post without an account, they made it so you cant even sort comments anymore without being logged in recently. Just malicious design. The website on mobile has been shit for years now asking you to USE THE MOBILE APP.
Keep it simple, Ubuntu/Mint/PopOS, play around with it for at least a few months before trying an arch install