In truth, yours isn't much better. You're thinking like a diesel mechanic and in that case, why pull the motor for a re-ring and bearing?
I wouldn't yank a 3406 out of the frame rails to change a pan gasket, but a 2.3? No sweat. As for cleaning the pan rails, just scrape them especially with the late model aluminum pans that don't use the pan rail as the primary sealing surface anyway. Excess metal removal here by an inexperienced person can eff-up a good oil pan. Steel pans can be cleaned up with a good razor scraper to get any old gasket material and RTV off, same with the engine side. Using a power tool on the engine side just slings gasket material around on places you don't want FOD. Make double triple and quadruple sure on the engine side that the corners where the front seal plate and the rear main cap meet the oil pan rail are clean. This goes for steel or aluminum. It's the easiest place for a leak to start.
I don't know what the deal is with the 2.3, but it can be a major beeyatch to get the pan out with the motor in the car. I think it has to do with the location of the oil pump and pickup tube. The 5.0 guys probably don't see this issue since the pump is up front. Jack the motor up and you get all the pump clearance you need. The 2.3 locates the pump off to the side and back a little, and there's just barely enough clearance to get the pan out if you hold your tongue just right, and the wind is out of the east and its a tuesday. To attempt to put it all back together without the gasket falling down into the pan, or snagging on the pump on the way back in is a supreme test of manual dexterity and luck. You'd think the aluminum pan would be better, since the o-ring style gasket tends to stay put, the only problem there is that the pan is bulkier and just creates different clearance issues (but hey! the gasket stays put).
Regardless of how you do it, others may do it differently, no big deal, and no reason to chastise.