Most places that sell single Pi Zero boards include an option to ship with the gpio headers already soldered on as a $1 upcharge. Def worth it for most people.
This particular build uses a diff approach to attaching the headers, thus is only possible if you do it yourself.
Think of it as:
* SeedSigner 101: pay the $1 for the presoldered headers.
* SeedSigner 401 / grad level: Advanced (optional) techniques.
To your second question: Everything SeedSigner does is totally standards-based: bip39 mnemonics and passphrases, standard derivation paths, etc. And the one unique thing we have -- the SeedQR format -- is already adopted by wallet software (Sparrow, not sure what else) and other hardware wallets (Jade, FD Passport, Specter DIY, Krux).
So, yes, anything done in SeedSigner can be taken elsewhere (e.g. load it all as a hot wallet in Sparrow instead and sign the same txs). And vice versa: Any mnemonic created elsewhere (e.g. Ledger, Coldcard, etc) can be used in a SeedSigner.