That last bit is what pisses me off the most. Some companies make it a point that they only hire people with open source projects, yet when interview time comes they don't bother to talk about these projects.

You literally have a data point with way more than the typical 4~8 hours a throwaway homework would take, and don't use it as an a) talking point, b) nice way to sidestep wasting more time?

Argh.