It's important to know what kind of code you're working on before you start setting low standards.
Some code is perfect, but it's only perfect because it was define with extreme mathematical precision (Ex: Haskell Prelude code). The value of this type of code is in direct proportioned to how often it's reused. Often the specs are based on timeless and well defined ideas, and the implementation crystallizes.
On the other end of the spectrum is loosely defined ad hoc code. The specification behaves more like a living thing and the code often tries to adapt to the moving specification over time. This type of code tends to bring a lot of value to the business and often relies on the foundations laid by perfectionist code.
I stopped looking for perfect code after I saw the fail man page, and saw that the one on my computer was at version 4.something.
Yes, the Haskell's Prelude is perfect when matched with an (artificial) specification that requires exactly it. Yet, on practice I don't think I ever saw any Haskeller that does not want to add or remove something from it. Partial functions are almost unanimously disliked, ditto for String functions; not to say about the universal complaints in how it is badly generalized.
I didn't mean to imply all the prelude code was perfect. What I meant to imply was some parts are insofar as the specification is complete and specific enough that it yields one solution. An extreme example would be the id function.
Some code is perfect, but it's only perfect because it was define with extreme mathematical precision (Ex: Haskell Prelude code). The value of this type of code is in direct proportioned to how often it's reused. Often the specs are based on timeless and well defined ideas, and the implementation crystallizes.
On the other end of the spectrum is loosely defined ad hoc code. The specification behaves more like a living thing and the code often tries to adapt to the moving specification over time. This type of code tends to bring a lot of value to the business and often relies on the foundations laid by perfectionist code.