It is usually more fun and maybe even easier to redesign than to fix.
I think that there are interesting exceptions. For instance, the *BSDs are sometimes maddeningly conservative. But if you have last used FreeBSD 5.0 or OpenBSD 3.0, you are up and running on the latest versions in no time.
I hadn't looked at FreeBSD for years. Tried the latest version 6 months ago or so and configuration was pretty much the same as 10-15 years ago. There are new cool features (ZFS, bhyve), but it is all logical UNIX.
I think that there are interesting exceptions. For instance, the *BSDs are sometimes maddeningly conservative. But if you have last used FreeBSD 5.0 or OpenBSD 3.0, you are up and running on the latest versions in no time.
I hadn't looked at FreeBSD for years. Tried the latest version 6 months ago or so and configuration was pretty much the same as 10-15 years ago. There are new cool features (ZFS, bhyve), but it is all logical UNIX.