That's like saying da Vinci is representative of artists or Prince is representative of musicians. The average person who doesn't achieve software legend status will see their creations vanish as the previous commenter described.
I've worked in this industry for a long time as well, but I'm not someone you've heard of. I too have built some very cool things that I'm proud of, a number of which no longer exist. Meanwhile, a shed that I built myself 30 years ago still stands, and I can still point to that and say I made it.
If you make something when you're 20, and just keep maintaining it until you die at the TTY prompt at 85, then all your life you were able to point to it and say "I made that (and am still making it better)". This is the case even if that work isn't well known. Perhaps nobody else will point to it for you after you're gone, but while you are here, you can say that.
Things you hacked up in the past are gone because they solved a narrowly defined problem which no longer exists, and even before that happened, you already abandoned those programs.
That this happens is almost inevitable, as part of making a living. All those programming DaVinci's who are known for something also worked on lots of things that are now dust.
I've worked in this industry for a long time as well, but I'm not someone you've heard of. I too have built some very cool things that I'm proud of, a number of which no longer exist. Meanwhile, a shed that I built myself 30 years ago still stands, and I can still point to that and say I made it.