Personally I don't think that's what makes a code "good". All code will get out of date with time. As with everything in this world. Doesn't mean that they are

Personally I don't think that's what makes a code "good". All code will get out of date with time. As with everything in this world. Doesn't mean that they are not good. My old gas stove doesn't have the bells and whistles that newer ones does. But it was a really good engineered product that have lasted for decades. It's really well documented so it's easy to do maintenance. It's also well understood by people. Many people will say that an induction stove is better in safety, convenience and many more. But a gas stove still has its own place. Just because the kernel code doesn't use the latest "best practices" doesn't mean it's bad. It could be due to many reasons from performance, compatibility, etc. Software is so easy to update anyway compared to other things that I'd bet there's more "good" software than "good" anything else.