It's probably important to realize that most devs aren't hackers. Not in the traditional sense of the word. I aspire to be, but in many ways I fall short. And I work every day, all day on it, most days.
Simply being a programmer doesn't automatically make you a hacker, just like having a boyfriend doesn't automatically make you in love. And like love, you probably know whether you are.
The defining characteristic of a hacker is probably an unusual sense of blending computers with your own identity. Computers are seen as a tool for changing the world, not merely a means to a paycheck. And that necessarily means that your identity with your work extends outside of normal work hours, since it's inseparable from who you are.
Good hackers have a variety of other hobbies, of course. But the base traits described in the article seem to line up nicely on average (if it's even possible to average the highest echelon of programmers).