Graphite
Considered alone, yeah it's sucks that users who put their digital life and trust in GOS feel disempowered like this.
On the other hand - how much of a voice do users have in the Google or Apple ecosystems?
Can we find examples among other OSes who use a different funding / resource allocation / prioritization structure? (LineageOS, etc?)
The Kickstarter model is not a good one for security and privacy minded OS in my opinion, many problems with the kickstarter funding model. I think there are good reasons why most creators on the KS platform move on to forming their own org independently of KS after their initial success, rather than stick around on KS long-term.