I'm sorry, but every company that invents something important also carries a responsibility before society to carry it forward to its logical conclusion. This is not a case of "it's my cake, you can't have it". Maemo is an important step forward in mobile computing and should be treated as such, not put under a paperweight to be forgotten.

If we had this patent etc ownership system thousands of years ago when the wheel was invented, would you still be defending the person that would say: "Sorry, I invented it and I don't see any way to make money off it so now nobody can use it."

By your logic, we should be using sleds or tracks for driving on roads. Unless somebody would patent those too.

Any initiative to bury development that will hinder progress should be considered unlawful and all such patents null and void.