Accidentally sent this too soon; keyboard-shortcut-fail! On Thursday 24 Jan 2013 10:37:55 you wrote:
I'm pretty confident I could tackle breakage, but I still avoid [testing] because I use my system for work, and troubleshooting these problems will usually take time that I can't justify. Breakage in the stable repositories is pretty rare, but manual intervention is required often enough that you gradually build skills and understanding, so you don't miss out on the learning experience. It sounds to me like it would be best for you to avoid [testing] until you feel more confident
... in your understanding of the Archlinux tools and the system as a whole. It certainly doesn't mean you're missing out or not as 1337 or anything like that.
Paul