Having a social life and a family doesn't preclude one from programming a lot. And you don't have to be programming 24/7. What it takes is learning how to combine the two. Meeting up with people and learning about programming (or other aspects related to programming), or joining a book club that reads books that cover elements of programming.

No one sits in front of a computer 24/7 to program. No one. Hell, Linus talks about how he spent so much time programming Linux in the very early days in the book "Just For Fun" and he even has time for socializing.

> That's not a life worth living.

For you, maybe. Don't assume your values apply to others. The other side is that it's not a life worth living if you spend 40 hours a week doing something you avoid the other 128 hours.

The luckiest ones have day jobs where they are working on what they love so they program for 8 hours, and then go home to a social life.

If you have a passion for something, you'll want to spend every waking hour on it.

I miss the days of childhood though where I could build what I want on a whim, at large companies you don't always get to build what you want to during the times of the day they pay you.