Neither Stallman nor Torvalds are scrambling to pay rent.
So it depends if you want to be "well off" (Stallman), "obscenely rich" (Torvalds), "shockingly rich" (Jobs), or "embarassingly rich" (Gates).
And I think that most would, given the choice, rather be the BDFL of a project they obviously enjoy (Torvalds), than spend all day in meetings, or managing management, or whatever Gates has done for the last decade. Unless you're a masochist, or a megalomaniac.
And besides that, lightning has to strike the same place 200 times before you make it to the 99.9th percentile.
"I'm trying to make a living; if you're trying to make a killing then you're stuck in the system."
So it depends if you want to be "well off" (Stallman), "obscenely rich" (Torvalds), "shockingly rich" (Jobs), or "embarassingly rich" (Gates).
And I think that most would, given the choice, rather be the BDFL of a project they obviously enjoy (Torvalds), than spend all day in meetings, or managing management, or whatever Gates has done for the last decade. Unless you're a masochist, or a megalomaniac.
And besides that, lightning has to strike the same place 200 times before you make it to the 99.9th percentile.
"I'm trying to make a living; if you're trying to make a killing then you're stuck in the system."