There are two primary benefits of a mature Mer project:
(1) An open-source, Linux kernel, Maemo-compatible distribution that is not controlled by nor dependent on Nokia and can be easily ported to many different platforms and processors, allowing users to run a Maemo-compatible, mobile-oriented Linux distribution on various different hardware platforms.
(2) A platform that is compatible with Maemo 5 (Fremantle) and the current Ubuntu distribution, with current libraries, yet runs on older hardware (770, N800, N810). This will allow owners of older hardware to run "backported" versions of Maemo 5 software, as well as Ubuntu applications such as OpenOffice.