[jonskeet]

They're not meaningful at all. Hopefully relatively few people really think I'm one of the "top 15 living programmers" or anything like that.

I'm good enough to make a living, and good enough to help people on SO. One of the nice things about programming is that what you find interesting, I might not and vice versa - hopefully there will always be enough people who find a variety of topics interesting to hope those who have problems in those topics. But yes, considering rep as a proxy metric for programming awesomeness would be a mistake IMO.

[infodroid]

In case it needs stating, your contributions to the programming community are simply remarkable. And it is only right that your efforts should be better appreciated by the tech community and wider society.

But there are numerous unsung heroes who, for whatever reason, do not get the recognition they deserve.

Like those on Stack Overflow who are investing the same amount of time and effort as some of the top rep contributors, but in areas that are not as reputationally rewarding.

But there is also a large group that are not posting on Stack Overflow, who are more likely to be working somewhere across the thousands of forums, git repos and mailing lists that developers inhabit. Out of the limelight, and with no reputation points to show for it.

[flashm]

Your answers have helped me out many a time on stack overflow. I live in Reading, and would love to get you a beer sometime. Wonder how many other HN readers are in Berkshire

[mark-r]

You're right, rep is not a proxy for programming awesomeness. But it is a proxy for how helpful you've been to the rest of the programming world, and I think that's something worthy too. I've only been 1/5 as helpful as you, and I'm quite proud of it.