I would not judge things on aesthetic quality, but simply on results. In general code faces difficulties that grow exponentially with with time, size, and the n

I would not judge things on aesthetic quality, but simply on results. In general code faces difficulties that grow exponentially with with time, size, and the number of contributors. Millions of lines code, thousands of contributors, decades of development and it's still at the top of its game? In spite of its complete lack of aesthetic appeal, that's the Linux kernel.