On the contrary side, it is interesting that this opinion is held of hackers, but would be ridiculous to consider for other fields. Imagine expecting an admin assistant to do personal admin assistant projects at home, or a bus driver to drive around just for the heck of it.
It makes me curious which fields lend themselves well to having fun time outside work doing the same things. I can imagine car mechanics tinkering with their own cars after work. I can imagine chefs cooking for their friends.
Do sports commentators call out shots at home or at the local sports bar when they are off work? How about journalists? Do they write for fun?
"On the contrary side, it is interesting that this opinion is held of hackers, but would be ridiculous to consider for other fields"
Well Imagine a musician who never played except when he was on stage. Or a golfer who only plays at championships.
The key is (more than whether one works at home or not, which I think is a mistaken emphasis) is to be able to see output so you can judge its quality. You could ask a musician auditioning for an orchestra to play a few pieces or a juggler to actually juggle 5 clubs. The problem is that there isn't a coding equivalent.
Most developers who code only at work can't show you any of the resultant code. An interview is too short a time to ask someone to code anything meaningful. Having some independent work he can show makes evaluating a candidate much easier.
If you are a professional it just might be that. A lot of artists and athletes have insurance contracts that require them to only do work when they are working. This is why you'll rarely hear of a basketball player doing a pickup game. A sprained ankle or blown knee off the court and they can, really, lose everything. Most of them do enjoy the game so they'll play in disguise or an alias.
When millions of dollars are on the line, sometimes, your passion can become your prison.
My mother is a "admin assistant" at work, and she does "admin assistant" work at home for two clubs she's part of. And a month ago a bus driver I know drove me and some relatives around for 6 hours just for the heck of it. And journalists do write for fun, ever heard of blogs? And my brother as a mechanical engineer recently fixed some headphones (they were cheap for 20 bucks or so, so he could have bought new ones easily).
While it seems that only hackers do that, everyone does it more or less as long as they are passionate about their jobs. They just aren't as visible as the hacker crowd that develops Linux as a hobby.
It makes me curious which fields lend themselves well to having fun time outside work doing the same things. I can imagine car mechanics tinkering with their own cars after work. I can imagine chefs cooking for their friends.
Do sports commentators call out shots at home or at the local sports bar when they are off work? How about journalists? Do they write for fun?