The trend-setting solution is: let’s get away from 7-nougat - immediately to 9-pie. Those responsible at /e/ have known this for a long time. It’s probably only a question of time: “We are working on upgrading all Nougat devices.”
And it also depends on the /e/ manpower: “The point is /e/ is not dependent on Lineage to continue supporting. It make it easier to port a device if it is already on Lineage’s list of supported devices but we are now adding devices which were never on Lineage’s list.”
That’s why I keep arguing that not everything on the WWW can be free and that " All authoritative customROM developers and helping hands should be considered with donations./e/ anyway, but also Lineage, microG and TeamWin - TWRP."