An individual or small enough team of individuals' care and dedication to a project can outshine and outlast better funded/manned projects in the same space, often at the cost of reduced material rewards. Which such projects do you find inspiring?
A few personal favorites:
GPG - Werner Koch (see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9003791)
Tex - Donald Knuth
Fabrice Bellard's projects
A few personal favorites: