tl;dr :
- Hexchat IRC client app development stopped
- Linux Mint team was building IRC client to replace Hexchat
- The team tried Matrix and liked it
- Linux Mint’s communication channels are moving from IRC to Matrix
- The desktop app will be named Matrix to avoid confusion
Agreed! Manjaro, for example, does exactly that - in its Hello menu that is turned on after installation, it offers you to select which of the common apps you’d like to install.
Just check what you need and there you go, bloat-free easy start.