Great way to edit my comment, what I actually said was:
> Linux will never evolve if the programming paradigm stays in the 60s
C is a great language, but I firmly believe that OOP creates more maintainable code that is more robust. Sure, a simple C program is easy to understand, but the kernel isn't an easy program. Don't get me wrong, C++ has major downsides, but C isn't a magic bullet.
The kernel is also shockingly simple. Sure there are some tricky bits, but writing kernel code is very straight-forward. In fact every time I've written kernel code it has always been a "it can't really be this simple" type moment -- but some of that code is still running production machines today so... it must have been.
NOTE: this is not me bragging, it's me suggesting the mystique is a bit undeserved.
I definitely agree. It is the simplicity of the POSIX userspace APIs and the Linux kernel internals that make me enjoy Linux so much.
I still think there is some art to writing simple, efficient code, though. Most system-level code looks quite simple when it's done, but it may have taken several iterations to get it fast, clean, and small enough (particularly on embedded devices -- I once had to find 200 spare bytes to fit a bug fix in a 256KB firmware by hand optimizing various ancient parts of the code base).
Well, the kernel is so shockingly simple in part BECAUSE no one let C++ in. And it is a testament to Linus' great leadership and censorship that it remains that way.