Here I don't agree. Documentation is part of the effort, not something optional and extra. I'm not saying "write down full length volumes of books". Just document what the software does and what the options are for, at least.

If a company thinks it can save some bucks by dumping the documentation efforts it should really get a new management team. Every time a user doesn't understand how to do a simple thing he or she may have to call for support, or to complain. That can cost a lot more.

My experience was very much the opposite. I had to google for most of the things I would like to do. I've read the manual too, to make sure I didn't miss anything. I don't remember every problem that I have because of lack of documentation, but I can list some:

• I couldn't figure out how to change a ringtone
• I couldn't figure out how to reset the data plan counting
• I didn't notice that the settings->Profiles screen had more button below "General" and because of that I couldn't access a lot of options
• I couldn't change system sounds for taping
• I'm still searching for a way to use the operator's SIM menu.
• I still don't know how to use two dictionaries, how to change them and where those settings are expected to work. I don't know whether the hard of soft keyboard would be affected...
• "Insert space after word" is kind of vague. insert spaces when, where? What key should I press to avoid autocompletion? What key should I hit to accept auto completion?
• Where could I find the ESC key, TAB key, pipe key? How to select composite characters, such as ã ó í é, etc
• What is "Nokia messaging"? Is it included, free, paid for?
• Will the phone download all my emails? How to tell it not too, because of high data cost?

This list continues... Most issues, if not all, could have easily being avoided if there was some lines of text available to describe what was the purpose of buttons and options.

I agree with the target of making a system as easy as use as possible. But that includes hinting the user on everything possible to make him or her accomplish a given task. I do find the Maemo 5 interface very dumbed down, but I'm used to playing with a lot of settings (KDE) and maybe that is why I expected to see a lot more options. it is a shame that nobody used "osso-help". But was it the developers fault or the framework? A good idea would be to reuse something that is readily available (KDE help system, HTML templates for help, etc).

I think that linking to online help content is not a good idea. For instance: what if you are trying to figure out how to connect? What if you are in a place or situation where there is no connection? What if the cost is too high?

That's why I think a good base framework would improve things. At least the base system (Nokia provided software) would use it and that alone would make the experience better than now. Good third party application developers wouldn't be offended if it was easy to add a few lines of descriptive text or html from a template.

Yes, I see that for CLI stuff "busybox" would be the one to blame.
Certainly GUI and non-GUI are different issues, but both deserve some consideration (even if for different solutions).

But what I fail to understand is that we are not talking about a 1MB, 64MB or 256MB device anymore. We have a 32GB device which could hold basic documentation for everything, including, let's say, basic English man pages without hurting too much the available free space.

We should make a list of all the problems that are blamed on the current partitioning scheme to help convince/aid in deciding for a better one... ;-)