[rmk]

Well there's "should" and actual reality. The article lays out the latter, pointing out that it's career suicide to go into bucket #3. If you are not an 'up or out' type of person, then maybe it's worth considering spending time in bucket #3.

Of course, software is obsolete the moment it's written, so it could be argued that a lot of people who think they are in #2 are probably in #3 much of the time, spending a small sliver in #2. However, budgets are allocated once a year or maybe a couple more times, so if you are in something that's categorized as #2 when that exercise occurs, you are still in a better place.