[Galaxy Grand 2 General] WaseemAlkurdi:
A little about myself and the ethos I have to talk

I am Waseem Alkurdi, developer and owner of a Grand 2 since July 2014, and one of the earliest contributors to the community (Does anybody remember The Ultimate S5 Mod or MicroKat?).

I have a little mission to complete before taking my Grand 2 out of active service as a daily driver (NOT GOING TO DESERT IT THOUGH, EVER) which is building every next Android version from AOSP/CM (Lineage) sources (starting from Android O until the last version of Android that boots on 1.5 GB of RAM) and porting something significant to this beaut (I'm talking about OEM ROMs, but tips are welcome!)

What the Grand 2 was one day

The Grand 2 was the utopia of an Android device community turned real.

The community was rolling out ROM after ROM, mod after mod, and everybody was excited ...

First, [MENTION=4630197]balliboxer[/MENTION] rolled out the first TouchWiz (Android 4.3-based) rooted ROM for the device, and that was May 2014 if I remember. It was the first victory for the community, as everybody thought that the device could never see root because of the Qualcomm SecureBoot technology, which apparently got everybody thinking about a locked bootloader, which was not the case. (If anybody has a Grand 2 on 4.3, boot into Download Mode and you'll see what I mean: QUALCOMM SECUREBOOT: ENABLED in blue letters).

Then came the official KitKat update: Of the most important changes was that the dreaded QUALCOMM SECUREBOOT:ENABLED line was replaced with a red UDC:START in red letters). Does that mean that technology was disabled? Only God knows.

With the KitKat update came GenNxt, another ROM by [MENTION=4630197]balliboxer[/MENTION], and one of my first projects, the Ultimate S5 Mod. The mod exploited the S5 code hidden under the stock ROM to "transform" the device into an S5 look-alike.

But my mod has lost the limelight when [MENTION=4630197]balliboxer[/MENTION] and @aapav01 came out with the S5 mini port ROM. The ROM was not a lookalike, it was the real deal, and was a hit to Samsung itself and their corporate policy of not updating the UI design of older devices.

Then came the 4.4.4 port from the S3 Neo, another device with the same SoC as the Grand 2. It hadn't received much attention though, as the S5 mini port took it all.

At about the same time, I released MicroKat, a barebones ROM based on stock. It has received some attention from people whom I call "purists", those who like everything pure without the garbage that sticks to stuff at times, and from people who wanted the most performance of their devices.

Later on, a stream of ROMs came: A bombshell of 4.4.4 CyanogenMod 11, CyanognenMod 12 by [MENTION=5396524]mukulsoni[/MENTION], another S5 mini port, this time using Lollipop TouchWiz, and CyanogenMod 13, and later, 14, by [MENTION=6548581]adityaupreti[/MENTION], ResurrectionRemix M by [MENTION=1041328]bugga[/MENTION]tty, and some Nougat ROMs by [MENTION=7571048]SoUnd001[/MENTION], among more. With each ROM came a surprise.

Where the Grand 2 stands today

We, folks, have passed the climax of the story of our Grand 2. Way long ago, to be honest. We have hit the climax in those ol' times when the team of contributors ported ROM after ROM, when Android Lollipop from source was nothing to this community, and when the Lollipop port from the S5 Mini was being downloaded like nothing the Internet has ever seen

Folks, this device is officially dead.

But is the Snapdragon 400 SoC archaically old?

Heck, no!

Is 1.5 GB of RAM dead?

Heck, no!

What killed the Grand 2 is nothing but the childish bickering of the community.

Yep, the whole community, myself included.

When the same generous developers of our community and all of XDA turn into selfish, egoistic bullies, because of their impatience with some kids, yeah, kids, babies, children who have not been taught respect by their families, who are equally rude, that's what we get, the current state of the Grand 2.

I am not referring to one incident, but to a collective of incidents.

What is supposed to happen

Quite nothing could be done.

Well, quite nothing could be done to a community which has brought itself down.

Speaking for myself, I will aim at my goals, listed above, no matter what. But for other developers, all of which are of higher order than I am, please give this community a second chance.

I have a word for them (especially @adityaupret i:)

The Grand 2 community is at risk of collapsing prematurely. One hand cannot clap, as we Arabs say. However, all of our hands can work together for the prosperity of the community. Do you want to save this community?