The original statement said directly "putting time and work into an addon". That's an ADDON. It's not ambiguously stating anyone putting effort towards anything should be rewarded for whatever it is they are doing.

No where in the article does it suggest every addon is worthy of monetary reimbursement. In fact the very last statement ( "if an addon like Recount does charge to go visit another site and get DPS meters, they'll have to make sure it's worth paying that amount rather than just using a free addon") suggests that the author does believe a level of service and quality is required to sustain any addon that would ask it's users pay or donate to continue releasing new versions.

This article is about a blanket statement by blizzard regarding donation policies that are severely limiting every addon developers possible revenue streams. It is not about some kid in a basement looking to monetize and exploit an idea to make all frames a bright green because he finds it aesthetically pleasing.

Surely you can admit that hundreds of hours of code time put into a tool that thousands of people use daily deserves some sort of compensation.