If you're an active open-source developer and you've put in time creating and maintaining open-source tools, then you've proven yourself.<p>I don't think saying you want to side-step the usual white-board shennanigans is elitism. It's saying "I've reached the point in my career where I do not want to have to work from the bottom on up every time I get hired".<p>Would you ask a prospective CEO to dismantle and reassemble the interview chair to test their ability to run a software company? Probably not. You'd only have them in the room if they had a proven track-record that pre-qualified them for the position.<p>The interview of an established, qualified candidate should be about finding out if the candidate is a good fit, not if they're technically competent or able to fit people, dogs and goats into rowboats in the dead of night with only one flashlight on hand.