No. Absolutely wrong. A sense of ownership and responsibility over a codebase is fundamental and essential to proper stewardship and maintenance of that code,

No. Absolutely wrong. A sense of ownership and responsibility over a codebase is fundamental and essential to proper stewardship and maintenance of that code, and refactoring and rewriting is the most effective way to inculcate that feeling. Sometimes it’s not always feasible, and sometimes it’s not necessary, but the end state is essential. Group or shared ownership of code is a manager’s wet dream but pragmatically impossible, a swamp of mediocrity.