only use Homebrew for ‘Casks’ (GUI .apps)— `brew cask` subcommand

Nix or pkgsrc for reliable management of CLI tools (both, if you want to try Nix but want an escape hatch)

don't forget to install GNU coreutils, grep, find, and bash. (BSD coreutils are weird and anemic if you're used to GNU. macOS bash is ancient, etc.)

disable cursor acceleration (barely works, but it's the only thing that works): https://plentycom.jp/en/cursorsense/index.html

the only mature terminal emulator on the platform that performs okay (provided you enable GPU acceleration): https://iterm2.com/

recover basic key remapping functionality: https://karabiner-elements.pqrs.org/

recover basic audio controls like per-app volume mixing: https://github.com/kyleneideck/BackgroundMusic

recover FUSE support: https://osxfuse.github.io/

recover configurability for a whole host of missing functionality, like global keyboard shortcuts, through automation (Lua scripting): https://www.hammerspoon.org/

recover clipboard management: https://hluk.github.io/CopyQ/

if you don't use some hack to get window tiling, you might also want to...

recover basic window management functionality: https://github.com/rxhanson/Rectangle

recover modifier key window drag: https://github.com/dmarcotte/easy-move-resize

good luck.