The problem is that I'm afraid there isn't a compromise that could be made - if the issue is that the council has awarded the prizes to itself, the only remediation is for those prizes not to be given.

This entire arrangement was created to present an illusion of "fairness" and "democracy". Life might not be fair, but that isn't a reason not to try and make it more so, and it's certainly not an excuse to justify doing otherwise.

Everyone here knows perfectly well that apart from the coding competition, no such thing will ever happen. This site won't even be here in no time. That's precisely why this thread has become so bitter on both sides.

It's not so much that anyone 'deserved' a phone - no one has a God-given right to free equipment. However, this program was created specifically to award people with the most influential Maemo/Harmattan-related work. That means it's everyone's business when that program is ransacked for personal gain - especially with the disgraceful behavior of certain councilors before, during, and after the nomination period.