> It also attracts a very specific type of person; everyone I personally worked with was very bright and capable.

How well did you and your colleagues do at math in high school?

I wonder why these bright abd capable people didn't join a company that actually pays reasonably.

> Salaries are not US-tech competitive, but absolutely are Central/South America and Europe competitive.

Don't their salary bands change between countries? They're offering 55k-ish to a Senior SWE in France, which is a low-ball offer even there.

If they're so bright and capable why can't they patch their OS?

> It also attracts a very specific type of person; everyone I personally worked with was very bright and capable.

I don't know anyone at canonical personally, so I have no specific opinion. However. This smells like the same bullshit peddled by any tech company's hiring policy but executed less competently.