I don't feel gated at all by my linux installation. If I want I can customize everything, but at least I don't have to deal with a thousand installers and update processes on a day by day basis.
I love dnf and apt, but I dread attempting to uninstall anything using them.
I am using pacman since over 10 years, only used apt and dnf for a couple of weeks.
Yes, also on servers I run arch... let's me sleep better :)
Anyone can create a compatible repository to any open package manager. No gates, no walls.
There are custom repositories and the ability to install packages from disk