The author seems to be very prejudiced against people who make different choices or are different demographic than them: >>One could think that having kids or

The author seems to be very prejudiced against people who make different choices or are different demographic than them: >>One could think that having kids or building a family is a choice. Even assuming this is true (it really isn't) I am not one to take offense easily so I will just say this is plain stupid. I have chosen to not have kids nor build a family. It was something I was thinking about for many years and decided I will be happier that way. Most of my friends have chosen otherwise and I suspect most of them will be happier with their choices. How it's not a choice I don't know, it's one of the most ignorant things I've read recently. >>Neglecting your partner and kids in order to build a pet project? Seriously? Is a pet project more valuable than seeing your kids grow or sharing your life with people you love? It isn't. It doesn't change the fact though that people who don't value those things and spend more time coding/learning/experimenting are going to be better at programming with all other factors staying equal. >>Destroying your social life, abandoning all your hobbies, quitting working out just to contribute to open-source? Will this make you happy in the long term? No, it will make you not as good as people who do that though. (assuming they are equally disciplined and organized) >>So what can we do? Understand that you will not be elite and anything you do in life unless you dedicate your whole life to it. That's how it is. You don't need to be at the top to be very good, make tons of money, have fulfilling career and contribute a lot to projects you work on. There will always be people better and more productive than you because they have chosen to sacrifice other things you are mentioning like children, families, social life etc. There are two different goals: 1)lead a happy balanced life 2)be one of the best at something You can't have both, have some respect for people who has chosen differently than you. There is no need to throw insults like: >>Who can afford to keep coding after an 8-hour work day of coding? Who doesn't get harassed in the open-source community? 20-year-old white guys with no responsibilities and/or with enough income to "buy" more free time (i.e: nannies, cleaners, good healthcare, a car to commute, etc.). Or you know, people who prioritize contributing to open source over for example having kids. Have some respect, the world is a better place because of them. I guess next time there will be complaining how you can't be an elite basketball player without dedicating your life to basketball or elite musician without practicing for hours to no end.