[blhack]

I'm pretty sure the starting salary for the types of people PG is describing here is "whatever I want".

[muzz]

He refers to "open positions for programmers at high tech companies", so I would have to disagree

[aidenn0]

Agreed; I like where I work, but it would be hard for me to turn down 2x what I'm currently making at just about any company. I suspect that is true for most people.