For every guy who pulls off the "contribute to open source" meme successfully, there are a hundred entering the field by just getting a degree.
Yeah, it's *possible* to do it without a degree. But it's a lot easier with one, and when you can pick up a legit BSCS in less than a year for less than $10k, most of which can be covered by pell grants, it's pretty dumb to take the hard road.
Yeah, I largely agree with you, college is the easier path for most people. Maybe 10 years ago it was enough to build something cool and post it on Github, but then the H1Bs figured it out and ruined that hiring signal. Now you need to have a project with thousands of stars and tons of activity for it to matter.
Where can you pick up a BSCS in less than a year though? The fastest I've seen is 2-3 at some colleges that focus on online learning.
