What expected problems did podman end up surorising you with? Is the software more stable and not constantly updated like docker? I want to move to podman at some point as well and I understand for a lot of cases it is just “drop in” but I run a lot of containers and I’m skeptical it’ll be that simple.
Especially with software distros like home assistant and matrix both explicitly pushing you to official docker due to some features.
Rust based is not a feature it is a slogan. Yay is the defacto standard and also actively developed. That being said use whatever works for you and AUR.