A2A,
In short, yes. I’ve responded to so many over the years about the WP code that it’s become second nature (and I wish other would search here before asking a repeat question). Oh, well …
It is a pet peeve of mine that “webmasters” would waste server resources repeating a test that they should know to comment out once and, if it works, DELETE the wrapper. I even built a “rant” for that:
[rant #4][indent]The definition of an idiot is someone who repeatedly does the same thing expecting a different result. Asking Apache to confirm the existence of ANY module with an … wrapper is the same thing in the webmaster world. DON’T BE AN IDIOT! If you don’t know whether a module is enabled, run the test ONCE then REMOVE the wrapper as it is EXTREMELY wasteful of Apache’s resources (and should NEVER be allowed on a shared server).[/indent][/rant 4]
I have a problem with the RewriteBase directive as they’re generally in the DocumentRoot so RewriteBase / is redundant. If it’s not in the DocumentRoot, the / must be reset to the actual location (or simply DELETED). Oh, yeah, I haven’t used that standard rant in ages!
[standard rant #5][indent]I find myself repeating that the RewriteBase directive was created to UNDO a mod_alias redirection (e.g., Redirect) so, if you’ve not got any of those, there is no need to use RewriteBase. More importantly, using it inappropriately can cause mod_rewrite directives to be based on something you’re not aware of so, if you don’t NEED it, DON’T use it/indent][/standard rant #5]
It’s just too bad that this forum software won’t indent for me. 
The first RewriteRule is redundant, too, as index.php is a file (first condition in the next rule set) so it, too, should be DELETED.
Finally, the second RewriteRule does not accommodate the directory request (which should already be handled by a DirectoryIndex directive) but that can be handled by adding a ? after the dot character. Then the absolute redirect to /index.php will first look at the SERVER’s root before looking at your DocumentRoot.
If those do not “create such a problem” for you, don’t fix it. On the other hand, if you’re as much a stickler for details (and optimizing code), then fix them.
RewriteEnding on
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule .? index.php [L]
Short & sweet, eh?
Just be glad that you didn’t employ the 
EVERYTHING atom (inappropriately) as my rant for that is a doozy!
OMG! The forum’s icons display during adding/editing a post but not in the board! What’s wrong with that picture?
Regards,
DK