Are all patches created equal?

Obviously, Microsoft shouldn't get extra credit for writing a driver that needed at least 366 patches of cleaning and then doing that cleaning. Ultimately, the total value of the original submission, cleanup done before the 3.0 cycle, these 366 patches, and the rest of the cleanup that needs to be done is one useful driver (with no useful development history). In the end, Microsoft will have contributed one good thing, and done it substantially in 3.0 and substantially in the original submission. Whatever you count positive here, you have to deduct from the earlier value.