[Desire HD Android Development] Mustaavalkosta:
I recently got this PM asking various things and since it should have been asked here in the thread instead of filling up my inbox I decided to make the answer public. I won't mention who sent it because it was PMed thus keeping the privacy of the person who did send it. Anyways, here's the questions and the answers in case someone else is also trying to wrap their head around these same questions:

You clearly do not understand how unofficial builds work. Most of the (generic) changes come from upstream (meaning CyanogenMod organization) thus anyone claiming that they are doing majority of all the work on unofficial CyanogenMod builds are simply over-stating their involvement. These changes are coming in regardless of my own schedule and spare-time and/or motivation available for tinkering with ace thus there's a very valid reason to produce nightlies automatically. Enabling CyanogenMod to run on a specific device is an achievement in itself, of course, but it doesn't mean the person doing this enablement work is doing the whole ROM by him/herself. Surely there are all kinds of derivatives with various amounts of extras added to them but I don't really like to start splitting hairs with this post.

If we would go around removing everything that doesn't work we would end up having a ROM that wouldn't likely even boot up. Also I don't quite understand this approach in general. No one is forcing you to use the latest iteration. It being available doesn't mean you have to use it no matter what. I like tinkering with things even when they are not 100% working so there's this swan song iteration of CM 12.1 for ace and saga. I don't plan to continue with Android 6.0 at least not in this scale with backend server and stuff. Once again I expect next iteration to have major regressions and there comes a point in time when running around trying to hopelessly patch those regressions is not enjoyable anymore.

Lastly, yes, the device is old but it doesn't mean it's not fun to tinker with it and see what it can still do. It may not do it well but it sure as hell still does run the latest iteration of Android all the same. In the end, deciding when the device is too old to be used properly with the latest software in it is really up to each and everyone here to decide for themselves. Once again, the software being available doesn't mean you absolutely must use it. There are very good older projects that can provide better UX for you if your personal taste for a software is something else than just running the latest version of it no matter what.

ps. I know I haven't been that much around nor poking ace privately with my long stick in the past months although I have tried to chip in where possible. My personal struggle in the aftermath of bankruptcy is still ongoing not by my own choice and I wouldn't like anything else more than just be done with it but sadly bureaucracy doesn't like to be rushed. Having to find ways to stay afloat and keep paperpushers happy really ruins the state of mind I need to be in to be in any way productive even for a hobby. I'm not complaining nor looking for anyone's pity, just putting down the situation as it is. I have sacrificed a few thoughts here and there for the WebView crash issue but nothing has bear fruit yet. Luckily we have everything in the open so if someone feels they can do better job at this ROM hobbyist business they can do so by themselves or by committing work to ODP project. I rarely turn down helping hands.