Being a techie won't make a good manager, but a good manager being a techie will probably result in a great manager. Its my personal belief that to be able to manage people well, you need to know what their job is, and what better way than to have done it yourself at one point? Your manager would then actually be able to manage a group without guessing and screwing everyone over. You may also be able to have an actual meaningful conversation with them without wasting your time by dumbing down the conversation to something they can understand. Not everyone is cut out to be a manager though, so don't be too quick to adopt any techie that wants to be one. :)