freewheel

I absolutely agree, but here's the problem in this context:

• OP isn't non-commercial. By their own words, they'd been doing desktop support for MacOS - plastic-wrapped and glittery, but still a *nix. Five years in, one's search-fu and tolerance for reading docs should be well developed.
• Their question was answered by the page they found. OP's argument is they didn't like the tone used to reply to THAT post's OP and concluded from that tone that their expertise wouldn't be valued "in the way they would like". There's room to develop some grit here.
• Arch isn't intended for inexperienced users, and that is made clear in the docs. "It is targeted at the proficient GNU/Linux user, or anyone with a do-it-yourself attitude who is willing to read the documentation, and solve their own problems." (https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Arch_Linux#User_centrality) Getting this upset over a single package readjustment, no matter how badly it was communicated, tells me OP doesn't have a ton of experience with bare metal linux. There's just no way to sugarcoat that.

Arch gatekeeps on occasion, yes, but this isn't that. This is the simple rules of that particular distro. OP is free to find something that better fits their needs; and it appears they have.

It is most certainly not. (He says, as he comes fuming out of yet another meeting about a ticket that could have been solved at Tier 2 if support would learn how to read a log)

I'm amazed at the idea that in any technical community, an urging to gain more skill in your chosen environment could somehow be seen as negative.

Heck, I'm feeling that vibe through this whole thread. I weep for the time these folks get to Senior or Associate levels - if they manage to.

I'm truly sorry that's the takeaway you got from all this. My (attempted) point was along the lines of "Linux is still the wild west." If you're looking for appreciation from random people on the internet, you might be in the wrong place.

Most of my life is chosen for me so I want the decisions I have control over to be meaningful to me.

I get it, probably more than most (my handle isn't random). But from that very perspective, IMO you have to be able to withstand a few assholes and pick your battles. An asshole in a forum that isn't even replying to me specifically doesn't exceed that threshold.