Maybe so. For me it was that even Sid was too outdated for me (e.g. with native Linux games and some software development), and to try and Frankenstein it into what I wanted was effort and instability I didn't want, especially when some Ubuntu-derivatives were much better suited for my personal-use situation.
I get you. I've heard some good things about LMDE, but I don't know how much bloat Mint adds, last time I used Mint was ages ago, LMDE didn't exist back then. I wonder how updated they keep it.
Not enough to make me think about it, it's not like I'm running a server or fighting for storage space. But if the thought of Flatpaks is enough to frighten, then it could be a problem.