I use Lightroom and Photoshop as my primary editing tools, and I am generally very satisfied with them. However....
I just finished setting up a new computer, and I was appalled by how much work it was to move Lightroom to the new computer. To do it, I followed a very helpful posting by Victoria Brampton:https://www.lightroomqueen.com/backup-lightroom-files/.
There are 9 (yes, really 9!) sets of files in various locations that one needs to copy to the new computer. It can be more than 9--for example, if you have stored plugins in other than the default location. Once I did that, LR started up without a hitch; I just had to tell it to open my primary catalog. However, it took me an unreasonable amount of time.
I am not a programmer, but it seems to me that there are at least two ways to avoid this. One would be to minimize the number of directories used. There are good reasons to have separate places for the catalog and photos, but it isn't obvious how much more differentiation one needs. For example, why not put all of the preferences, presets, templates, and maybe even plugins under one parent directory? The other alternative is what Apple has done with iTunes: there is a menu option that integrates the various files for export to another computer.
At any rate, I think it's now done, except that I assume at least one more plugin won't work right the first time. (I had to fix one already.)