[vesterr]

You said: "Up-and-coming" != "the very best".

I'm not talking about up-and-coming skill-wise, I'm referring to level of fame or notoriety. What it really boils down to is whether you have enough money to just work on what interests you vs. what pays the bills.

"they can absolutely get a job (almost) anywhere."

Not really. There are far more jobs that require skills you don't have than skills you do.

[eb]

You're taking the point about a hacker being able to get a job anywhere far too literally. He has his pick among the top software companies and startups but, no, he probably won't land a job designing rockets for NASA.

[eb]

Can you think of any examples where a particularly excellent hacker is stuck at a crappy job to pay the bills?