This is unexpected, and hits really hard. I tried to get one of his drivers running with a fairly new USB wifi adapter, I made a Github issue, and he was super kind and helpful. This was only in May, it feels unreal to read this news. What a terrible loss, my deepest condolences to his family and friends.
As I understand it, the loot for the selffound faction is better in a sense that it's what you want for your build (since you can customize your drops to an extent). On trade, you will also find good loot overall, but not necessarily fitting your build (so you trade it away, and buy the stuff you want).
Take me down to PropertyCity