I've been a Linode costomer since June of 2003. I originally, I signed up because the support at the company I was hosting with at the time was awful. I have to admit, I signed up originally because Linode offered the cheapest price I could find on a root access virtual server. Given that it was the cheapest, I wasn't expecting the greatest service, but I have been very pleasantly surprised. From getting the service set up to resolving issues I was having everything has run smoothly and Chris has been amazingly patient and prompt. If you want a server with full root access, I would highly recomend getting a Linode. They're fast, flexible and a great value for the price.
–James