My remarks here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4906217 probably should have been posted as a reply to this comment, which is what inspired it. The rest of the remarks here make mine seem out of context, but there were a lot fewer remarks at the time I started my reply.
So, basically, I was agreeing with you.
Thanks
Planes are beautiful, but if they looked differently, they wouldn't be able to fly. Cheetahs are beautiful, but every feature in their body has been designed by nature to make the fastest animal on earth.
I think it's the same with software engineering. We don't think a program is "beautiful" because the author decided to use that particular algorithm or fancy data structure, it's because this algorithm or data structure allows them to solve the problem at hand correctly and within imposed limitations on resources. It fits nicely with the overall purpose.