I have been using Parabola on my main work laptop for two years now. Not a
single time did I have any problems that would cripple the system.
Occasionally (for me, it happened 1-2 times in two years) some package
updates to a newer version while another one still would like the old
version. However typically this fixes itself after upgrading again a couple
of days later. Of course, if you want to do something advanced (e.g. use two
pairs of headsets with cloned sound) then you have to figure out how to do
it, but at least you have the option to do it.
However if I know I have a very tight deadline, and I cannot afford any
delays, I would avoid running "sudo pacman -Syu" (the do-it-all command to
update and upgrade) until I'm less stressed.
Parabola encourages you to learn how things work though. If you want to use
Parabola, I highly recommend you to learn to install it following the guide
at
https://wiki.parabola.nu/Installation_Guide
In the x86-world I would say that if you want something to "just work" then
install Trisquel. If you want regular updates, newest packages, and are
willing to learn a bit of new things, then go for Parabola. However in the
ARM-world there's really only one choice for a freedom-respecting OS
(Parabola).
