Article author here: I've always said I want to be able to go on vacation and not get a call.

I like your framing better!

I don’t want to frame it positively. In my experience, people who hoard knowledge and/or relationships (as with other teams or customers) are toxic.

I hate all sorts of gatekeeping behavior but I especially despise having to wheedle information or effort out of someone like that. They almost invariably have an ego that is out of proportion to their contributions.

Side note: Occasionally I have seen people who take on the thankless task of being a maintainer of something no one else wants- those people tend to welcome others and share as much as others are willing to listen to, so being the single person who knows something doesn’t make you a gatekeeper.

It’s the gatekeepers that I hate.