I’ve never been a fan of Emacs starter packages. That’s probably because when I started, there weren’t any: you simply rolled your own configuration using whatever resources you could find. Still, there’s something to be said for a minimal configuration that can get you up and running until you learn more about what’s possible and what Emacs offers.
Ashton Wiersdorf has a solution: Emacs Bedrock. The idea is to offer an absolutely minimal configuration that relies almost entirely on built-in packages. The only third-party package that the default configuration includes is which-key, a wonderful package that offers you help on completing a key sequence if you stop part of the way through. I use it all the time and wouldn’t want to live without it. It’s perfect for the n00b trying to learn the Emacs key sequences.
It’s easy for those of us with highly tuned configurations that include multiple third-party packages to forget that vanilla Emacs offers a powerful and very useful editor. I spent some time with an unadorned Emacs when I started and added packages only when my workflow demanded it.
Wiersdorf has that covered as well. There’s a second configuration file that offers some Emacs “enhancements”. These include such things as the irreplaceable Avy, and the world’s best Git porcelain, Magit. The Minions will, of course, be exercised that his default theme is dark mode but, again, these things are easily configured and explained. For example, the configuration points to modus-operandi for a corresponding light theme.
You can checkout the actual configuration here if you’re experienced but if you’re a n00b, simply follow his directions to install a trial installation and see what you think. If you like it, you can copy the trial configuration into ~/.emacs.d to make it permanent.
This is, I think, a good way to get started with Emacs.