I mention the gifs modules during development of the image but rod was reluctant to include them.
The ssh thing is a bit weird I thought rod included that, I was working in tandem with rod when the image was being developed, we differed on what should be included in the image.
As for vnc, this is the first time this issue has arisen, so ATM it seems to be a one off.
The only alternative to enable/disable hardware is to edit the config.txt by hand.
I don’t think you’ll get a lot of movement until a newer version is released.
But one thing you could do is mentioned these things on the github page, as that where the devs are, or make a pull request with the info you think should be included in the docs.
Remember projects like this only move forward by users putting in the effort.
Another thing to do is raise an issue on rods github for the image builder, the link is somewhere in the thread, and mention these items.