Speaking as a former freelance contractor now turned back to the ways of regular paychecks, I thought the article was very fair and reflects my own experience.

But you left one thing out. I recall a train ride to Reading a year or two back, when I was still freelancing. The chap in the seats across the carriage was half my age, dressed in a sharper suit, and was describing his first day on the job as a representative of what i will call a well known software house.

He cheerfully spoke over his mobile phone of the rate his employer was charging the end client (five times mine) and how he had just spent the afternoon recovering the mess after taking the live database down shortly before lunch, dumping all the people using the web service in front of it in a heap.

Yeah we all make mistakes from time to time, but some of us know they are not something to be proud of.