It didn't strike me as modest, to compare oneself to another who is known to be great.

"Van Gogh is almost certainly a better painter than I am" -Monet

I wouldn’t call comparing yourself to Fabrice Ballard and not just saying he’s a better programmer modest.

"He is almost certainly a better overall programmer than I am."

That is a work of art in and of itself. It's genius narcissism.

"almost certainly", "overall programmer", are we really going there? Are we 16?

Why even do the comparison? Fabrice is not a "programmer". He is an engineer. Programming is a medium he often works in and that medium is completely meaningless in and of itself. I would be offended if someone called me a "programmer".