Yeah, I get that feeling a lot too. The kicker: I'm in my 20s and have no family, although I DO mind doing unpaid overtime!

What strikes me is that this notion seems to have developed in the software industry that people working on code in any significant capacity should be living and breathing code. I've seen it said here that there is no excuse not to have a flourishing github account in this day and age. Well, what if I don't use github for my stuff? What if my work is pretty much all proprietary? Side projects you say? Like my personal algorithmic trading platform, I should put that on github? No thanks. How about the field of math I've been teaching myself over the last three years? That doesn't count because it doesn't go on github?

For me it comes down to the fact that developers seem to be expected to have no life, but simultaneously expected to have a diverse set of skills/interests. I have a ton of side stuff going on, but it's not all public, and it's not all programming!

That's a rather weak analogy. I know a carpenter who builds furniture for his house in his spare time, a graphic artist that expands his portfolio on his spare time, and a cook that, uhm, well, cooks in his spare time. All of them are creators and builders of sorts.

Although I would agree with you that some would prefer young ones without responsibilities and a lot of spare time over those with more experience but with families. I guess this reflects more of a certain company hiring philosophy more than anything else. Energy to the young, wisdom to the seniors.