Next is nowhere near "equally" as bad as CRA, it's made by a company not a *community* of front end engineer wannabes. Try to make honest assessments instead of whatever works in favor of your argument.

Next is that minimal setup, that has everything you need. Saying vite is a "minimal setup" is like saying webpack is a minimal setup, if by that you mean an useless setup wherein you have to then add a bunch of libraries for basic needs. That directly contradicts with the idea of being minimal.