[aikiai]

Oy... if we're talking image... do you really want to be a "professional programmer"?

I think there is _something_ to the rockstar image... namely passion. Accept no bullshit, swear at the suits, light shit on fire to get results passion.

But I agree, "rockstar" A) doesn't cut it as a metaphor and B) is not a word a real developer would use to recruit a real developer

If you want to give my kind of programmer a nickname, save it for your business docs. My fathers already gave me one:

Hacker.