I don’t think it’s that weird personally, it’s more just a disconnect in how different people see operating systems. If you’re the type to not want to do extra work to make your computer functional you probably view your OS as more of a tool, but people proud of their arch installs usually see their OS as a hobby/project and put the amounts of research/time/effort into their OS that you’d expect from any other hobby.

As a related anecdote I see cars as tools and absolutely do not want to do extra work on them, similarly to how it sounds like you see your OS. My car people friends will spend hours fucking with their cars just to change the color of something or add a bit more power that they don’t actually need, and at the end of the day they’re really proud of their machines (exactly like people installing arch). I don’t think this is weird even tho I look at cars very differently than they do, cuz I can respect the time, effort, and knowledge they invested that makes them so proud - even if at the end of the day I still just see cars as a way to get from point A to point B.