Kerbal Space Program

Hey!

I just found out about KSP and really want to get into it. However I'm a bit a confused about the best way to begin. Here are some questions about the setup:

1. Apparently KSP2 isn't all that great and I should just get the original game?

2. Given I did that, should I get DLCs? Do they add meaningful content or are they just overlapping with mods?

3. Mod recommendations? Not looking to make the game needlessly complicated, but just the kinda mods that a beginner would consider improvements.

4. Install method? Steam Linux version, direct download Linux version or windows version through Proton?

Thanks!

PS. KSP is on Steam sale until 11.9!

I played ksp a lot some time ago. I've taken a break and want to play again, but of course most of my mods were broken so I deleted them. I played with an mostly stock mod list with some small parts mods and then restock, restock+ and some visual mods. This time I want more mods and I've seen that there are some really cool looking stockalike mods like bluedogs design bureau and things like that. What are your recommendations?

New patch release of KSP2 just dropped. Pretty big list of fixes.

Can anyone report back on general performance/stability?

A few years ago I tried modding KSP for peak photorealism and visual quality, but I got bogged down tracking down poorly distributed mod dependencies and basically fighting with CKAN over broken versions of EVE.

Do you have a set of mods which give really excellent visual quality while simultaneously being easy to install? What is the current state of the art for KSP1 visual mods?