there is a clear conversion that you can turn off the devfee and there is proof that if you look in the 'devfee' string log the miner will still mine on the developer's pool.
So: yes, you can turn the devfee off. yes, if you do, you will mine slower. reason - IAW the devfee string log, it will mine in the dev's pool. It just will not deposit the coin.
at the end, we didn't make the program. Give credit where due. if you don't want to pay the dev fee, then try to learn to write your own.
I have no issues paying a fee. I think 1% is more reasonable, but im not a coder and can't complete with them.