I like it because it's so stable. They don't have this Linux thing where they have to change everything around to incorporate the latest fad, and there's also not so many big tech companies constantly messing with the code. Linux has too much corporate influence for me. I don't want Huawei or Amazon to be messing with the code I run all the time. The grassroots nature of Linux is kinda gone and the suits have taken over, just like with the internet itself.
I also love how the OS is stable but the apps are rolling. This really helps to be on the latest KDE etc. And the documentation is excellent. ZFS on root as a first class citizen too.
There's a small team of maintainers working hard to keep everything going in this age of increasing linuxisms. But so far they've been doing a great job.
The userland is pretty important. To most Debian users, Debian GNU/FreeBSD would feel more familiar than Alpine/Linux (with busybox and no GNU coreutils).