While I don't disagree with one iota that you've stated; an OS should be seen as only the start where acceptance is gained via refinements that allow users to potentially do more - which Maemo succeeds in easily - but then by software that take advantage in an environment that is easy to develop for and has very active developments for all sectors of their users.

So far, Maemo does not qualify for that last part. Sure, Ubuntu and Maemo bring Linux power to the masses while making it friendlier but at the same time there is not a quick/easy way to get the features that matter the most to the different levels of users.

Commandline users are giddy with the N900. I mean, sure, having root on your phone is somewhat appealing, but to do what? If you're not a server admin, commandline, SSH and vi/pico/emacs don't do jack crap for you.

If you're a media savvy user, you do not have a way to easily synchronize your files, music, movies inside of a nice, comfy UI... not yet at least.

If you're a commercial user, you do not have the applications that you might have in other offers... yet. Nor do you know if you will be continued to be supported or if this Maemo 5 branch will dead end like the prior ones... and that's a threat that a person were to do just a little bit of research, there's three prior iterations of the software that are now considered "dead".

But if you're a linux lovin' dude that likes to code in Qt or GTK+, you can do so on your machine natively. You have access to some heavy duty technology that can alter the way you experience the N900 and the Maemo platform. But let's be honest, that's the "core" group. Ubuntu users are not "core" users mostly... some are, some are not.

Maemo is a core group at the moment. It's full of a group of people that are still clutching onto retro gaming, thus emulators and want IM communication, yet don't want to take full advantage of the forward facing camera. Why would I say that? Because they have yet to do so and I know damn well there are enough people here that could do it. Hell, one user here is so close to adding MMS, that I might even go with a N900 before I anticipated because I know it'll be improved by the community to a point where it'll be just fine alongside my DialCentral install - which, I refuse to live without.

So yes... Maemo is something big. It can be a game changer.

But the OS is just the catalyst. It's the carrier. The need for more varied software that transcends the user levels though... that's paramount imho.

I'd love to pull my contacts from Addressbook (Mac) or sync my bookmarks (Weave or X-Marks) and pull music from my player of choice (Zune, VLC or iTunes) and then be able to talk to Exchange 2003 (I'm not using 2007 yet) and can display *.3ds, *.docx, *.xlsx and *.swf files without having to push down a level or have a lack of viewer(s) and ultimately enhance my user experience with Maemo... it will have to be done with more mature software.

Anidel, awesome post. Thank you for Xournal... it's the other software that I refuse to live without. And thank you for your contributions to the community... I hope that you do not mind me adding my 2 cents to your statements in the chase of a discussion.

Take care