It isn’t that hackers become libertarians, rather, people with a naturally anti-authoritarian attitude are attracted to programming. People with no interest in understanding computers are accustomed to getting bossed around by them; but to those of libertarian temperament, this is unacceptable: getting bossed around by an inanimate object is simply intolerable.
The above is a précis of Code Free or Die. A précis, something I haven't encountered since high-school, is a short concise summary; English Literature and Composition were my weak subjects, however David Voth, when illustrating how précis are written, invariably read my work, so my strengths were Math, Physics, and Précis-writing (in all modesty:-) It's not so much a matter of genius, but requires a willingness to take pains, repeatedly rearranging clauses, counting, and so on. A good memory enables doing that in ones head.
A computer-programmer not liking Microsoft, to my surprise, surprises most everyone! It wouldn't surprise anyone who has read the Code Free or Die essay.