Right, at least we now have something to talk about, thank you for clarifying. Writing this from an N900, so no links, but the principal benefit in terms of OS or customisability is the fact that the Maemo OS uses Linux, a FOSS operating system, as its core. In terms of software, that means that millions of man/hours of work previously done on Linux can be ported easily. It also means the OS fundamentally handles multitasking and multiple desktops well, giving much more power to the UI than on (for instance) a S60 phone like the N96. Everyone uses that differently, of course. The same fundamental truth applies to hacking and customising... such things as undervolting and overclocking weren't written from the ground up for the N900, but are made possible by the fact that it uses a relatively (for a phone) standard architecture - Linux on ARM. The final thing that makes the difference, IMHO, is an almost unbreakable system to reflash the phone if you mess it up. This has permitted skilled users to play with their phones and develop all the clever (and not so clever) stuff.