Re: As a ex sys-admin....
I agree with your opinion of sudo. It is the equivalent of leaving your front door key under the mat.
As it happens I use PCLinuxOS and Texstar holds even stronger views on the misuse of sudo and will not allow it near the distro, With su you have greater control over who can run as root and surely that must be a good thing.
Though looking at the downvotes not a lot of people agree.