I mean, a lot of people work on things that, despite being billed as a Great New Thing, are throwaway projects that will disappear without a trace in a few year

I mean, a lot of people work on things that, despite being billed as a Great New Thing, are throwaway projects that will disappear without a trace in a few years (once management changes, the market turns, or the founders/VCs cash out, or the SEC comes knocking, etc.) At least a 35yo codebase probably actually does something more useful than sell a narrative whose purpose is to enrich a few random jackasses.