This is sort of an aside but what of anything of real value is in these source code releases other than things that would only apply to HTC phones? Just curious if there is anything in these patches that would apply to linux in general.
Not really no, most of it is Android's + Qualcomm's modifications (which are usually public and easily available).
However, there are some HTC hardware-specific parts that are used mostly and needed by any serious third party android distribution (like CyanogenMod).
