LLVM began purely as a research project, unlike many other compilers, so I think it's a bit harsh to blame its `appetite for "elegance"`. Free software had GCC

LLVM began purely as a research project, unlike many other compilers, so I think it's a bit harsh to blame its `appetite for "elegance"`. Free software had GCC, and in my opinion LLVM has the success it has because it is composable. Even with the 4.x branch of GCC with GIMPLE, GCC was not made so pluggable (due to political reasons if I understand well), so they do not compete exactly on the same ground, and that's why they both exist.