This is different from what you're saying though. This isn't about "what basic knowledge is needed generally." This is about us frog-boiling ourselves into a world where we end up accepting the mentality that code is owned and controlled by the big company/entity in the center. For now it's "convenience," but if it continues it absolutely will turn into a center of power to be policed. "Dangerous code" will be censored, etc.
In other words, yes, Stallman was right.