> For example it is said that one can just back up the config dir to carry all the configuration over to the next install, but apps often dump the default configuration into the config dir, which you don't want to carry to the next install (which will have different versions, so probably a different default config) because that might break stuff. In the end you have to carefully look over all the configuration to see what's worthwhile to take with you, and it doesn't really matter if that's in ~/.appname or ~/.config/appname
Depends really what you want. If you want to have a fresh system with some of your config then sure, you need to decide what you want. If you just want to keep the same setup then ... I have been using the same $HOME for over 15 years (same for the rest of the system too). Some big upgrades (e.g. KDE3->4) required some manual intervention but most programs handle old config well enough in my experience.
Depends really what you want. If you want to have a fresh system with some of your config then sure, you need to decide what you want. If you just want to keep the same setup then ... I have been using the same $HOME for over 15 years (same for the rest of the system too). Some big upgrades (e.g. KDE3->4) required some manual intervention but most programs handle old config well enough in my experience.