None of those people are employable, except as vanity hires at companies like Google. Think about it -- why would it be in a company's best interests to hire Linus Torvalds? They can get the kernel for free.
They'd be interested in hiring Linus because he's a very smart and resourceful guy who can communicate well and knows a lot about hardware and software and how to manage a large development project.
When I create a new architecture / design I would love to be able to chat even 10 min with a "vanity hire".
Advice, 2nd opinion or just a different perspective - it saves you from months of dead ends...
Some people would have no problem getting hired. Think of Peter Norvig (56), Larry Wall (57), Guido van Rossum (55), Linus Torvalds (42).
And you don't have to be this famous. Ex. publish a good iPhone app on GitHub, offers will start to flow in.