Minecraft is removing code obfuscation in Java Edition

Minecraft: Java Edition has been obfuscated since its release. This obfuscation meant that people couldn’t see our source code. Instead, everything was scrambled – and those who wanted to mod Java Edition had to try and piece together what every class and function in the code did.

Modding is at the heart of Java Edition – and obfuscation makes modding harder. We’re excited about this change to remove obfuscation, as it should make it quicker and easier for modders to create and improve mods. Now you won’t have to untangle tricky code or deal with unclear names. What’s more, de-bugging will become more straightforward, and crash logs will actually be readable!

surprisingly fantastic and consumer friendly move from mojang, good on them

They should officially support the mod loaders at this point
Playing minecraft without mods as an adult is like eating a plain potato, or like going to a party without inebriating substances.

Then I must be the most plain motherfucker out there. I meddle with Create and Biomes o’ plenty every couple of years, but about 90% of my worlds are vanilla with the exception of a couple of Vanilla Tweaks data packs.

I tried Feed the Beast once… never again. That was the worst Minecraft experience I’ve had in my entire life!

Feed the Beast is commonly overloaded and also commonly shoves things like progression and questing, which are not to everybody’s liking.

The best approach is always to add the mods you want manually to tailor the experience.

I personally had most fun with Terrafirmacraft, Thaumcraft, Electrical Age, and GregTech. But those were the days gone, and most of them got stuck at 1.7.10

Terrafirmacraft and Gregtech do actually have modern 1.20.1 versions! I am currently actually playing a modpack with some friends called Terrafirmagreg, which as the name implies is tfc and Gregtech integrated, along with a bunch of other QOL and add-ons. It is a very fun, and very very long pack.
Nice! Heard of new versions of TerraFirmaCraft, but I believe it is community maintained, as the main author seems to focus on Vintage Story. But since you mention it works fine, I might as well give it a spin! Didn’t know Gregtech updated to newer versions.