Relying on configuration, either in your home ".nanorc" or in its /etc equivalent, is too risky; you might be using ssh (or docker/podman/etc) to a machine or VM or container which doesn't have that configuration. It's the same for relying on having a nano version where that's the compiled-in default; you might be using a machine or VM or container with a different nano version than you're used to. It's less risky to always type "nano -w" everywhere (or use a different editor, one which never had hard-wrap enabled by default in any version).