DocFraggle
Yes, I’ve read plenty about the ire from the wider Linux community Red Hat brought on by only providing source RPMs to paying customers. However, the article you linked to indicated that Rocky has two viable, legal methods to obtain the SRPMs. There’s at least one level of indirection for both methods, and it’s possible Red Hat tries to close this “loophole” (for lack of a better term), but Rocky will continue as best it can.
[unknown]
I used to run Debian on all my personal devices, even my DIY home router. I ultimately got tired of the Debian way once I started using Arch Linux in earnest. Granted, I’ve maintained the Debian ways that I still think are good ideas, but dropped a lot of the things Debian does as a matter of principle. Arch Linux gives you the flexibility to do that, without compromising functionality or purpose.
I’m going with a modern Red Hat based distro mainly to keep my skills in that area as current as possible. Most of my recent Red Hat experience has been on RHEL7, which is end of life on July 1, 2024. My dad’s VPS is running CentOS 7, which is EOL on the same day. I’m mainly going with Rocky (or perhaps Alma, if they navigate the Red Hat drama better than Rocky) so it’s maintainable by someone other than me, since my father will also be using the new VPS.