[LtWorf]

Also if that means the program won't run at all? Or a bug that has a patch to fix it doesn't get fixed? Or a device that could be supported is instead not supported?

I've made patches to a bunch of stuff to improve kde on mobile/tablets. After short or very long time they do get merged, but meanwhile people (like me) who own a tablet can actually use the software.

Why wait several months or even years?