I can see why PG is getting a little out of sorts. You're really missing the point. And so does the critic. Its not about deconstructing the simile to see if its valid. Who really cares if hackers are like painters? That's why the critic had a hard time finding a thesis statement, because he wasn't looking for the right thesis. The point was that writing code takes creativity and imagination. Its not just a rote exercise or an academic endeavor. If the critic had wanted to refute pg's thesis, therefore, he would be trying to prove that hacking doesn't take imagination or creativity and that any joe who knows a programming language can create an amazing site/app. Instead, the critic concentrated on a simile used to explain the thesis, which can easily be substituted for another simile, as the critic pointed out. Substituting a more appropriate simile, however, does not refute the point of the essay. Essentially, all the critic ended up saying was that in his opinion, PG used a bad simile. The point of PG's essay remains valid: it takes creativity and imagination to be a good hacker, and its wrong to characterize the profession as something that lacks that creativity.