He didn't say he was government. Contractors can make out like bandits still ;)

I know that that is typical, but there are exceptions, and if you work for the right agency you can be paid well, so I don't want to make any assumptions.

If he's not paid well then I hope he realizes that by merely being aware of HN and GitHub puts him in the top 10% of developers and he can do a lot better than working at a place that restricts his ability to educate himself.

Oh, I'm a contractor and I'm paid decently, but the working conditions are terrible. I've been trying to find a job outside of defense/govt work for a long time, but either the pay isn't as good (the one or two times I managed to land an offer) or I'm not a "cultural fit." Not having a network outside of the govt bubble makes it hard.

Hi there, James. I'm a software engineer at Google. I've worked with many former government and defense contractors here whom I would consider some of the best engineers. Please send me your resume (or anyone else with a similar situation!); my email is in my profile. We have offices all over the US (but not Florida) so the bay area wouldn't be a requirement.

Well, I finally got tired of this place and went and got an offer from a local aerospace company, I suppose I ought to see how that goes :)

Man, I grew up in Brevard, and I wish I could work there, but unfortunately all the software jobs are for defense contractors. You'll probably have to work remote if you want to get out of the defense bubble.

He said government site, not government employee. Contractors are sometimes paid very well.