This a question I think about often. Like everyday. Here's a few tenative conclusions: 1. The best coders are not necessarily interested in the same things a

This a question I think about often. Like everyday. Here's a few tenative conclusions: 1. The best coders are not necessarily interested in the same things as people who start "Web 2.0" companies. 2. Many of these coders who never get involved with "Web 2.0" and probably never will. (The good news, if you could call it that, is you can still benefit from their skills. They often like to share code freely. They are generous.) To find the evidence for these conclusion you need to venture off the beaten path. To be receptive to this evidence you have to take respite the herd mentality and buzzconcepts like "Web 2.0". 3. This is the one that's continually obvious and the cause for a blog post on the topic: There are some very sub-par coders heavily involved with things like "Web 2.0". And they are very vocal. Much more so than excellent coders who not involved in things like "Web 2.0". I'm always open to evidence that counters these conclusions. But the more bad coding I see the more skeptical I get. And it just keeps coming. The bar is set very low. Who cares if some Web 2.0 site is a horrible privacy risk if they can still manage to IPO for a few billion dollars? The best coders care very little, it seems. They are more interested writing smart code than in a multi-billion dollar IPO.