There is no way to join 2 nodes without introducing new edge, unless there is some hidden shortcut. Also the "connect paths" ignores selection and instead randomly picks one of the two ends with matching direction. Even if you know the end direction rule you can't know which of the 2 endpoint pairs will be connected.
I might be slightly biased as I am more used to even/odd infill mode compared to non zero mode, but having user constantly keep track of which paths are clockwise and which are counterclockwise seems like unnecessary hassle, especially for paths without infill where it shouldn't matter. At least there is a UI indicator for it, otherwise I would be very confused.
> There is no way to join 2 nodes without introducing new edge, unless there is some hidden shortcut.
Duh, I was not even aware that nodes get connected with a single node replacement in other apps. Somehow I missed that.
> Also the "connect paths" ignores selection and instead randomly picks one of the two ends with matching direction.
It should currently connect by selection order (first selected with first selected on other path), but I may have to rethink this.
Regarding fill rule I am aware that this is missing. Thanks a lot for the valuable feedback.