Me too. I also vote to hang onto Python.....because you just never know when it'll be needed. And if the base install is there, it's easy enough to add-in modules, plugins, bindings, etc., as and when. I don't especially like it any more than anyone else does, but - as has been said - you simply cannot completely avoid it.
And "Yes" to gufw, too. There's got to be a reason why it's pretty much universal across the Linux eco-system. It's only a front-end to ufw, after all.....which itself is a kind of 'abbreviated' lighter 'take' on iptables, when all's said & done.
Mike.