I've seen some pretty clean C++ code and some ugly C code. I think what's important is how a programmer use a language rather than what language he uses. I mean, if someone enjoy writing clever one liners, he/she will probably do it in all languages, might it be Perl or C. However, the important point here is that C does a good job and the programmers are used to it and like it. THEY, people that submit patches, like it, period.