I am a google engineer, and a fairly successful one.
I would absolutely despise it if I had to manage my own OS, just like I despise thinking about my keyboard layout or text editor.
Hacker News overrepresents the hacker type which loves the feeling of full control but I'd estimate that at least 33% of engineers, including many very talented ones, don't want that, and only want to focus on the concrete problems they are trying to solve.
I would absolutely despise it if I had to manage my own OS, just like I despise thinking about my keyboard layout or text editor.
Hacker News overrepresents the hacker type which loves the feeling of full control but I'd estimate that at least 33% of engineers, including many very talented ones, don't want that, and only want to focus on the concrete problems they are trying to solve.