I ask for code, and if they have none prepared I ask that they spend at most two hours building something they enjoy.
I expect a decent developer to be able to bootstrap and write most of a fun toy project in a domain they know well or at worst some kata from the Internet within half an hour. Then we spend some time screen sharing and talking about it, similar to pair programming but less problem focused.
If you can't do it you'll likely struggle a lot when working with us because we commonly use throwaway prototypes.
Which is fine, you don't have to take in every candidate, nor do we need to apply to every company.
Sure. A bigger organisation with more layers in their technology department could treat candidates better that would struggle with a hiring process like mine. More detailed tickets, more mentors available, bigger cashflow, things like that.
In such settings it's also somewhat common to hire consultants in bulk, like 5-10 at a time, try them out for six months and keep the ones that enjoy the work and fit well in the organisation, and over time try to employ some of them directly.
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The equipment is irrelevant. What other career out there expects that practitioners also perform the work at home during their free time as a hobby?
I realize it's a rhetorical question, but pretty much everybody in the arts? I'd be very surprised to find a professional musician that doesn't play as a hobby.
Artists and musicians surely have portfolios to show, but I don't think those are usually composed of things they're doing in their free time. Maybe? I'm not an artist so maybe I'm wrong. I guess then we're back to "you should have a portfolio" rather than specifically "you should do your job in your free time." I can agree with that!
I have written software for laboratory devices on similar price levels, that will never run on home computer.
It's like asking a dentist interview candidate to show you examples of fillings and crowns they did at home as a hobby. I don't understand why there is this automatic assumption that people who program at work also do it outside of work.