I’m on Artix Linux and it did automatically create it after an update.

It likely just runs xdg-user-dirs-update which, in my experience, doesn’t delete anything if the folder is already there (the command just changed the folder icon in the file manager when I used to run it on a WM).

You can install Aurora Store and use that instead of Play Store. Though be aware that disabling/removing Play Store may cause issues with some apps that require Google Play Services for some reason and those apps don’t have to be completely proprietary for this requirement (Stoat’s mobile app doesn’t launch at all without Play Store for example).

I would also recommend disabling background connections and running in the background for proprietary apps you install. I’m not sure how you can do this on Samsung but this is how I do it on Xiaomi:
Running in the background: App info -> Power -> Select “Restrict background apps”
Background connections: App info -> Network access -> Disable “Background data”

Fluxer is not federated though. If you plan on only interacting with your friends who were willing to join your instance that’s an alright solution, but if you want to interact with other people on other servers then you’re going to need to use their main instance.

Screen sharing support has been added to Stoat but it’s disabled on the main server so you have to self host to use it, but self hosting Stoat is a pain because the main instance is hardcoded into the clients, so you have to edit their source code and recompile them. There are also no notification sounds for some reason.

I still use it though. Much better than having all my data sold. It would also be nice if they could add a Signal-like donation system where you donate some minuscule amount of money monthly and get a small badge to indicate your support. Something as simple as that motivates people to donate, no need for paywalling the most basic stuff like Fluxer and Discord.