I think that's a matter of perception. Much has been said about what exactly design patterns are, but my personal take is that they're a linguistic tool rather than a how-to. Every craft or art has a catalogue of terms that they use to describe the specifics of the practice. For programming, these are "patterns". Novices learn them because those who came before realized these practices were the foundation of the craft and thus deserved names. But in and of themselves they are not useful save as the most high level of guides (and let's face it, no one implements an exact copy-as-presented of Fowler's Visitor pattern).
Which is my long-winded way of saying: Yes, I think so. :)
