Maemo 5 life span isn't all that bad... the fact is:

1) There will be at least 2 more updates to Maemo 5. And PR1.2 is the major updates that will bring forth enhanced features across the system.

2) Many people talk about Harmattan/Meego as if these platforms are going to be launched tomorrow. However, the release date for Harmattan is Q4 the last time I heard. Meego might be available sooner but a consumer version of Meego is never going to happen in Q2... in any case, Maemo 5 will become a mature platform that can run some of the software for Harmattan/Meego by the time these platforms become available.

For me the biggest concern is the crappy OVI Store discouraging commercial developers from giving Maemo 5 a chance. This will not be changed by Maemo 6, Meego, whatever. For a platform that has relatively limited user base, having a central channel is more critical than Symbian.

For me, it's ok that Maemo 5 doesn't do everything well (e.g. Exchange, Navi). In some way, the community has been like a life support for the Maemo project. However, discouraging commercial developers is like committing suicides for the platform at this stage.