It's a bit more nuanced - being self-taught is a thing especially since you already have access to world class resources online. You might be missing a bit of s

It's a bit more nuanced - being self-taught is a thing especially since you already have access to world class resources online. You might be missing a bit of structure or access to professors but the best learning materials are already out there and they're fairly accessible. So it's definitely possible to make it without formal education but it takes a lot of time and effort. I think that's the part that trivialises it - looking for the fastest way often means that you make compromises with how well you learn. The other part is that even the people with formal education have learned most of the stuff that they know through self-studying and real-world experience - very often you hear people in their first job saying that university didn't really prepare them for an actual job in software. And the skills that you leave university with are just a starting point - you have to keep learning throughout your entire career anyway.