The N900 and rest of N-Linux series have an amazing array of real hacker code lying around in and out of the repos, not unlike the Linux Zaurus before it it is the only high end hardware mobile device which ships ready for console and root.
There will again be great linux stuff as the Android kernel mainstreams and alternate or OEM firmware(like Cyanogenmod now on oneplus) ships on great devices. We will as always be missing open source drivers but for causal users a hackable device is all they really want.