In my case, I'd prefer to do so. I'm a different use-case though, I'm a server admin so I want to be as comfortable with bare-bones defaults as possible so that I can jump on any server and just use Vim (or sometime just vi!). I can't afford the time it would take to set up a custom config on every server in every environment, so the most I need is a basic .vimrc that has `set number` and a couple netrw tweaks that I can copy with scp and get going. Most of the time I don't even copy that over and run `:set number` when I open a file.
Note that I'm still an intermediate Vim user at best, splits and markers are the most complex features I use (no macros yet). I know I can edit remote files, so maybe once I'm comfortable with that then I can set up some real customization in each environment.
LunarVIM has been a bit tricky, mostly related to upgrades around LunarVIM, usually neovim updates. But, the capabilities of having Language Server in vim have been so refreshing! Particularly when working with Python 2 code to bring it up to Python 3, pretty much just follow what Language Server says.
When it gets right down to it, there are only a couple little tweaks from my old setup I want to carry over, everything else I want to go back to using defaults (places where I've diverged my own functionality) and stop pushing around a poorly maintained manual config that gives me 10% of what Lunar or similar gives.
TLDR is that with the global lvim object, custom path, breakages because of unstable plugins it causes a lot of support issues where people go to the official NeoVim channel and not the LunarVim one.
I switched to LazyVim, which is developed by folke (one of the main developers of most of the plugins (trouble.nvim, tokyonight, which-key, lazy.nvim etc) https://github.com/folke?tab=repositories) the other "vim distributions" use anyway.
It worked out of the box, the method of simply overriding a few settings https://www.lazyvim.org/configuration/general was a lot easier to understand.
I'm also very happy I only maintain now "one configuration", I really disliked having "nvim" and "lvim" simultaneously on the same machine.
The method of checking out the "starter" repo https://www.lazyvim.org/installation and simply deleting the .git folder is a LOT nicer than an annoying installation script that does a gazillion things (LunarVim).
I'd be lying if I said I'd never thrown something at a wall in frustration due to vim acting in some bizarre, inexplicable way and not knowing why, although that definitely happens less nowadays with nvim.
I hadn't heard of lazyvim until the other day and I doubted I'd really need it, but now that I know it's something new from folke, I'm gonna have to give it a shot. Always quality stuff from him -- dude is a machine, when does he sleep?
I 100% agree with your hyperbolic "200 keybinds to make a view component" But that's ...that's not how it works unless that's what your brain wants.
With ALL editors you eventually encounter "ugh, this is frustrating" or "i wish i didn't have to do that" and then you have 30+ years of plugins and configs you can draw on to modify it to match your liking without any coding. VERY rarely, you'll want to tweak it in a way that there isn't a plugin / config for and you'll find communities of very helpful people who'll respond with "what about this solution..."
The fact is that _your_ brain is different from everyone else's. The less configurable an editor is the less it will be able to support the way your brain likes to work.
You _can_ accept pre-made defaults like those provided by VSCode OR you can gradually refine your editor to be a perfectly crafted tool for your particular and very individual way of thinking.
I choose the latter because i spend SO much time staring at my editor and trying to convince it to do things that are almost always better with automated assistance from it.