I can't really speak for hackers at large, but in general the hacker community is seen as semi-autistic, and I've been diagnosed with an autistic-spectrum disorder (Aspergers). I think perhaps the article (quite excellent otherwise) underplays and maybe misunderstands slightly the way that kind of autistic outlook can alter intimacy. That sort of situation he describes, where you find someone you think you're intimate with and it turns out it's all a lie -- that happens a lot if you're unable to correctly interpret the way people behave. So early "close friends" aren't friends at all, and you never let later friends get close because you can't trust them. At least that's how it is with me, and a lot of people with Aspergers have it much worse. Then again, a lot of people in the hacker community have it much better. But if the hacker community is correctly characterized as autistic... a lack of close friends relative to "normal" people wouldn't surprise me, both early and later in life.