Is this the case though? Can’t most programmers not use ssh?

If I had a dollar for every person I've seen who sent me their private SSH key by email or slack... Or didn't have any keys on their workstation at all and had to be taught how to generate a basic ssh2 rsa key pair.

so no, not really.

I'm in the middle ground. I have a fuzzy idea of how to get it done and don't need help... but I have to search for the exact commands each time.

Most programmers Google nearly every command they type in, so they can Google how to ssh

And being unable to properly google is pretty good screening. I feel like a programmer who knows when to turn to stackoverflow is a lot more valuable than one that can eventually work it out by brain-power alone but takes three months to do it.

Yes you need to know how to actually program without just using snippets but also yes if you're trying to diff two files in a commandline environment just google the answer - some people will know it by rote but I've got nothing against people that can pickup new tools and learn to use them without much guidance.

Yes. It's another type of FizzBuzz, in a way.

Not sure if I'm misreading your wording, but I think lots of (most?) developers use ssh at least somewhat regularly.

Lol