The freedom of choice for individual components is certainly a benefit of the platform, but I would argue that it also doesn't preclude having a default preset

The freedom of choice for individual components is certainly a benefit of the platform, but I would argue that it also doesn't preclude having a default preset of components that form a cohesive vertical experience. In other words, the defaults should work. That most likely means forking select components, which is what Mint did with Cinnamon, to create a micro-ecosystem that is internally consistent, but they just haven't gone far enough yet.