Nix would probably be my first choice if I was going to use an "enthusiast" distro. I tried it, I liked it(Unlike everything else non-debian/Ubuntu I've tried) but it seems unnecessarily powerful.
Ubuntu provides an opinionated workflow with self contained packages, with less work and more of an ecosystem, and more or less uses only concepts familiar to apt users already.
Nix still hasn't completed the Flakes transition, and it's not immediately clear at first glance what's declarative and what's not.
Snap is a lot simpler of a model. Include almost everything, except the base snap stuff, in a single package file, like an old school video game cartridge, rather than the UNIXy idea of software as part of the OS, carefully configured as part of a unique hand maintained system instance where all the parts have to work together perfectly.
Ubuntu provides an opinionated workflow with self contained packages, with less work and more of an ecosystem, and more or less uses only concepts familiar to apt users already.
Nix still hasn't completed the Flakes transition, and it's not immediately clear at first glance what's declarative and what's not.
Snap is a lot simpler of a model. Include almost everything, except the base snap stuff, in a single package file, like an old school video game cartridge, rather than the UNIXy idea of software as part of the OS, carefully configured as part of a unique hand maintained system instance where all the parts have to work together perfectly.