Good to see someone taking Graham to task over the art historical details of the essay. I do get the same feeling lost in making art as lost in making code, but possibly a chef feels the same way about making a recipe.
Graham’s comments on wealth and popularity are just wrong. It’s good to see someone recognising that ESR ain’t all that as a theorist (“The Cathedral and the Bazaar” is a throroughly broken metaphor if you understand how cathedrals were built and the place bazaars occupy in society). I’m not a big fan of “Godel Escher Bach”, though. I find it tedious and chummy. If you are told you should read it, just read the last actual chapter for the useful content of the book and laugh hilariously whenever anyone mentions Achilles and the Tortoise. “Fluid Analogies” is much better.