Was it always like that? Did people only write free software to eventually get hired by someone for their great side project? I never wrote any code to impres

Was it always like that? Did people only write free software to eventually get hired by someone for their great side project? I never wrote any code to impress someone. I always wrote code to learn things, for my own benefit. And yes, usually there was a lot of synergy, but with high latency. Much of the knowledge I use at work comes from so-called "side projects" I used to do months or even years earlier. I also find the headline rather sad. As if everything you do in your spare time has to be geared towards maximum efficiency in the day job. That is a pretty sad path to go down.