I have never had that reaction because frankly, I don't think it's appropriate to call people who know less than I do 'flunkies'. Sometimes, I like to approach the situation with humility and ask questions. Other times, I quietly ignore the situation. And other times, if it's a particularly egregious error, I'll write code and explain why I think it is better. But I never call someone a flunkie because words and attitudes like that are incredibly rude and toxic.

The moment you convey that sort of attitude, two things happen. The person you called a flunkie will not learn a goddamned thing from you. And, if they happen to be right, you won't learn a damned thing either. Great choices.

Using failure as infrastructure at a fast paced startups with shoestring budgets and then taking the resources to afford the luxury of a nurturing and caring mentorship for every teenager with a computer is a disaster.

That is true.

However, you can pursue a culture of excellence without being rude and toxic. You can be kind and humble without coddling.

Edit - I should have added that if teenagers with computers have a good attitude, feel engaged and feel cared about, they can be extremely productive members of a team. And they have a tendency to grow into really amazing engineers (and fine people).

Hmm, I'm sorry... I'm having trouble understanding your point, and specifically how it relates to my comment.

I parsed it wrong. I thought you essentially said "the things I build are definitely worse then relying on a collection of random internet dudes code through npm." But yes, GNU make, emacs, yacc, lex, bison, ar, nm, there's lots of great tools.

It's 4am, I should sleep.

Oh, haha no worries - sleep well :)