I don't understand articles like this. There's the assumptions that all coding is alike and that when I code for myself I get to solve the same problems that I can solve when coding for others.

In reality, this simply isn't true. Case in hand: I like distributed databases. However, I alone, have absolutely no use for one. Nor can I (simultaneously) work on every single aspect of a distributed database: data replication and MVCC, network layer, B+Tree implementation, monitoring, configuration, bindings to other programming languages.

When I program on my own (and every programmer should) and for myself, I typically write much simpler programs: tools and utilities (and that's typically the products that "micro-ISVs" sell), conceptual programmings (e.g., I am curious about a certain algorithm, so I'll go and implement a toy version of it) or programming for fun or mind expansion (e.g., re-inventing the wheel, but using OCaml and Lwt), or for career development (e.g., practicing C++ on my own as I primarily program in Java at work).

Only a limited kind of programming that I do on my own (concept programming, mind expansion or "career development") is as technically fulfilling as the programming I do at work. There's no way I could do this kind of programming for a living: I am not delivering a usable product. Paxos algorithm is the prime example of it: I can implement a toy version in a weekend, but it would need months of further development and testing and years in production before being mature (and even then, I guarantee, there will be bugs in it). It would need a real world use case for the algorithm (that I, as an individual don't have), it would need operations engineers to deploy it to production, it would need other programmers to build systems on top of.

The other approach is to develop products that I, as an individual, can build on my own. There's wide variety of this kind of software: project management tools, productivity tools, business applications. There's plenty of people who want to use these kind of systems and there are many micro-ISVs who continually build this. However, while this might (or might not) pay better, it simply won't be (at least for me) challenging enough to be interesting. There are some for who are able to find a niche where both "sufficient challenge" and "ability to do it myself" intersect, but I am not one of them. Not to mention, I would be spending at least 1/2th of my time doing book-keeping and accounting, technical support, marketing and the like. No thanks.

Finally, I could take an "easy" job doing something other than programming that gives me time to do work in the evening. Problem with that approach is, again, it's going yield LOWER happiness than what I have: I am spending a huge chunk of my waking hours doing something I don't enjoy, then when I go home I do something I enjoy, but which (almost never) sees the light of day. In addition in order to spend my time doing something that is a "meaningful leisure", I have to give up time that I could be spending traveling, working out, pursuing other "meaning leisures" (reading, photography) or being with my girlfriend, parents or friends. That sounds like a surefire recipe to develop at least a mild kind of depression. Indeed, individuals who have a deep passion to do X (but where X has a manageable career route), but are unable to find a job doing X, are some of the least happy people I've known (janitors who spend or nightclub bouncers who their time doing physics and mathematics makes for feature films or chapters in Malcolm Gladwell books, but it's a painful way to live).

Let's consider the more conventional role: working for a company (big one or a startup) as a programmer. In this case, I spend a much larger chunk of my time programming (yes, I also spend time in meetings, spend time dealing with operational issues -- but that chunk would be much larger if I were "my own" software company); after this I go home and can choose to either program or go out and do something else (depending on my mood). This way I am spending most of my day doing activities that I find to be a meaningful leisure.

Suppose I do start my own company: I can go two ways. I can go the "micro-ISV" route and work for myself, or I can start a company that's expected to grow. Again, I'd much rather choose the second route: it's much harder, much more prone to failure, but I'll be able to build something that will scale sufficiently to allow me to focus on elements that I find more rewarding (while employees I would hire are able to focus on elements they find more rewarding).

Edit: just as a clarification, I am not saying that all "micro-ISV" work is boring. I just haven't found anything that I could (reasonably) build into a product, such that working on that problem would be (to me) more rewarding than working for somebody else. This could still exist, but it's much harder to find.