For that to happen the source code is not needed, one could easily get all the 'adom world' and make a new adventure, maybe somewhere in ancardia, using all the elements TB introduced and some new, but keeping the same world, the same signs ( maybe something new yeah, but keeping all the adom essence ). This could be coded from the ground up, no old source needed. Only adom's manual and some tips from TB, if he approves it of course.
Thats very unlikely to happen, simply because people always underestimate the amount of work needed to do this.
However IIRC Avenor was kinda an adom clone.
That's just what I think... if the source code would be released maybe we'd get some nasty ADOM distortions, made by sick people =\
(include in that war tanks, modern weapons, pornography, foul language and all that)
Such a thing shouldn't happen to the game.. at least is what I think
As Adral said vanilla would always exist. ADOM fans want to play adom not some mockery of it. And if a mockery gets more players then that would benefit the RL community.
I think that the god\alignment system can be totally reworked. Classes really need to be separated more. There are really just two classes (fighter and wizard) all the rest are just varing degrees of fighter/spellcasters. Priests are the same as wizards with different spell names. However just some small changes will make people play it again.