Agreed. We hire folks that have their own businesses or projects. One of our employees likes doing contract work and helps run an annual tech conference. He didn't want to be tied to a specific schedule; sometimes he works a lot, sometimes he works a little. He knows he has a steady paycheck, though it is smaller than it would be if he were working full-time for us. We've known him for years, and knew he was working on our Open Source stuff already, for free, so we know he's got the interests of our users and software in mind.

There are flexible positions out there. Another option is to start your own company. That's what I did when I wanted freedom. I made the mistake of starting a hardware company the first time...the second time I made it software, and made sure nothing about it required me to answer phones or be in one place for any length of time.