[biot]

I think it depends on what someone's day job is. If their day job involves really interesting programming challenges which are interesting and require creativity to solve, a programmer's passion and creativity can be invested in that.

If, however, a programmer's day job is maintaining a legacy system that doesn't involve a lot of creativity then there's a greater likelihood that they have untapped passion which will express itself in a side project... and ultimately with them finding a new job that does require creativity.

Judging someone based on their side projects is the wrong approach -- judge them on their creativity and passion. Some are fortunate to have a job which gives them the ability to be creative and passionate during work hours. Others aren't as fortunate and need to express their creativity and passion outside of work hours. The big red flag to not hire is when someone has neither creativity nor passion inside or outside of work hours.