I keep a homelab with a good bit of deploy infra that I'm quite proud of. However, there's a good bit of configuration around torrent-related activities. The technical side can be fairly interesting to talk about in relations to automation, atomic moves, VPN handling, etc.
There is other code but it's frankly not as interesting. Should this not be associated with the same profile given to job applications?
Personally, I love hiring misfits. One of my more memorable hires was student intern who flipped from computer science to history after she applied. I figured the interview was over and we chitchated a bit where I learned she was a wedding planner on the side. She turned out to an amazing PM and went really deep into data analytics work.
Another dude was a smartass kid at the Apple Store. Dropped out of college to chase some girl. Hired him as a 19 year old contractor for exec Macs and he turned into an incredible infrastructure engineer.
So it may be a good hook. But you need to find the right person.
I think it addresses the, “would I have a beer/coffee with this person” part of the interview.
(I’m not a hiring professional, but have done hiring for the startup I work at)