Intel have something in reverse, libhoudini. Runs ARM on Intel chips. From my experience with this, there're lots of buts and ifs. Some apps work, some apps work but some features in the app didn't, some won't start at all. As mentioned in the article, they already know that not everything will run properly.
There're lots of OS projects out there without anyone listening. They get no response when you post an issue, even if they're popular and people are still using it.
Most people don't contribute anything with a project if it's working. If a little bit is not working or could be better they may post a little patch to get that little bit to work. If there's a lot that's not working the way they like, they may shop for something else.
IMO 20yrs old sounds like old code. That's before the birth of most modern languages we use today.