I can barely see out of my pigeonhole, but I'll try to reply anyway :) Neither I nor the article ever suggested that performance is not important, or that low-

I can barely see out of my pigeonhole, but I'll try to reply anyway :) Neither I nor the article ever suggested that performance is not important, or that low-level work is not important. The parent gave two examples - language development (almost entirely not a commercial activity anymore), and the development of the Linux kernel (GPL). Neither was supported his point, which was that performance for its own sake is the key in those markets, and I was responding to that with generalities about the 'commodity nature' of those examples. You're outlining markets where performance is an important feature - to products sold to well defined paying (and massive) customers. Thus you are supporting the article, my summary of it, and disagreeing with parent, even as you lament the 'social media rockstar' phenomenon.