Yes it seems you never really understood what it was, and still ranted so much about it.
In my understanding, MeeGo was a common core:
- entirely open source (like, 100%).
- with reference UI for the targetted platforms. These were never meant to be consumer UI. Just an example of what can be done, and a base framework to test your app in for developpers.

Then, the MeeGo Hardware Adaptation project was adding the Nxxx specific drivers and tuning for having the core booting and running correctly on these devices, without care for the UI.

Finally, the MeeGo CE project (different project but same people) was adding a UI on the Hardware Adaptation project, and bundling some application with the goal of making it "daily use ready". This was at first based on the reference handset UI, but there was discussions at some point to use the tablet UI, and they could have used/devellopped a completely different one in the future.

And after that, there was the abill_uk project, complaining that MeeGo (from netbook to IVI) was failling because the MeeGo CE project was not progressing rapidly enough for him.

In order to stop logicless people from ranting, the Mer project is now without reference UI