I'm not sure loving programming correlates well with people who put in long hours, though. One thought experiment: imagine programming were an occupation that paid a reasonable skilled-craftsman type of wage, but not a high-level professional type of wage, say $50-70k typical salary and no real prospect of big exits/IPOs. Who would still be in the field, and who would find another field? People who love programming would probably still be around. Heck, there are die-hard tech lovers who'd still be around if it paid $30k, the way artists stick around despite low pay because they'd rather do art for $30k than not-art for more.
But I would guess that a substantial proportion of the current tech workaholics wouldn't be, because they're driven by something other than intrinsic love of technology/computation/programming. Something more like a drive-to-be-on-top type personality, perhaps.
Almost a dozen years ago, I took a friend to a jam session. It just so happened, that one of his musical heroes, an Irish Uillean piper was on tour and decided to sit in. They hit it off well, and my friend became a protegé for awhile. Anyhow, the touring musician told my friend, "Don't try to play music for a living. It'll kill you."
Sometimes having to do something, especially if you can't do it exactly the way you like, can kill feelings for it. Sometimes having to do something for long hours can do the same. I'm not so sure having or lacking these tendencies makes one person better or worse than another.
But I would guess that a substantial proportion of the current tech workaholics wouldn't be, because they're driven by something other than intrinsic love of technology/computation/programming. Something more like a drive-to-be-on-top type personality, perhaps.