> Maybe an upcoming MAME release could be dedicated to Near? Just a thought.
I don't think this is a good idea for several reasons although it's obvious your intentions were good.
Near received a ton of hate which then lead to the unfortunate end result and we wouldn't want this hate to transfer over to individuals on this project.
Also, many thousands of people are responsible for MAME being where it is today, so the dedication to one individual starts something that would take time & thought to maintain which is the exact opposite of what the current devs need. They already invest a massive amount of time into the project.