I don't think being passionate about programming, or your job or anything else, means it has to be at the expense of something else that is valuable. It's more

I don't think being passionate about programming, or your job or anything else, means it has to be at the expense of something else that is valuable. It's more about preference and priorities. I don't watch TV, for example. Being obsessive about something can be unhealthy in some cases, but I'm not sure if that's what the post is about. Because the author talks about himself in the post, I found interesting that he defines himself at the bottom of the page as "SF author, software developer, occasional blogger. Buy my books and help me quit my day job.". So his passion is perhaps being a SF author and wants to quit his day job, which makes me think he's not very passionate about it. Well, that's all right. Like being passionate about programming.