I can't speak about programming specifically, but for more general system engineering/administration I think I fall in this category and it has yet to hurt me.

I can't speak about programming specifically, but for more general system engineering/administration I think I fall in this category and it has yet to hurt me. I've had an interview or two over the years in which I surely lost out due to my inability to rattle off some bit of trivia about one thing or another, but it's probably for the best. 1) If the job was really so narrow that such a specific, rote depth of knowledge mattered I'd probably find it terribly boring. 2) If the interviewer is willing to write me off based on canned questions without actually conversing with me - the place where I feel I shine. I probably don't want to work for/with him/her. Yes, there are surely exceptions to this, it's not a hard and fast rule, but as I said above it has worked out fine for well over a decade now.