Even though I might typically oppose Texrat and GA, I can appreciate their intelligence and insight on many things that I, admittedly a consumer first, then Linux enthusiast about third or fourth (I like solutions that maintain an upgrade path that's known), tend to overlook... but I find myself on the very same page right now pertaining the community treatment of Maemo by Nokia.

In an oddly relevant conversation today, if any company were willing to show that they truly saw worth in the community, they would place people that would interact with people and assure that community of not only what the community was doing (that's in place) but also what the company is doing that will affect the community (that's not in place fully, imho). And thrice that I've been around - I came originally for the 770 then later for for the N810 - I've seen Maemo relegated from initial "great thing" to very soon (13 months for the N810, 6-7 months for the N900) overlooked, ditched and proposed to have community support.

Community support, while great; fatalsaint said it best, it doesn't quite equate to same as company support. And the public knowledge that certain parts will remain closed - Diablo has parts that are still closed 2+ years after the fact - also seems to be repeated once again on the N900.

While I sat on the edge of a N900 purchase, I kept having a feeling that Nokia would treat this great community once again as it had in the past; forgotten, overlooked, barely communicated to in an indicative, concise, and clear pattern that didn't sound like the evasive answers that politicians give. I understand that we will never know what all goes on inside of Nokia. That's what their quarterly reports, their stock price and the quips given to use accomplish.

But to see Maemo start, stop, drop, restart, promise... then repeat... three times over, the message becomes diluted with fear, uncertainty, doubt and allows for a lot of negative discussion and feelings that simply were not around during the days of 770, N8x0. It wasn't that the community was smaller during the ITT days (it was)... we just had a clear progress and a future that was offered to us that was called Mer.

I've frequently stated my lack of faith in Nokia due to the failings of Mer - I do not point the finger to Stskeeps, but moreso that Mer just didn't happen for a lot of reasons - but it's mainly for the lack of coherent communication from Nokia that I'm presently disgruntled the most. I mean, Maemo is a platform that I've become entrenched into because it offers hope, choice, and openness that is clearly lacking in many other choices out there. I don't like being walled in... despite being in a company that gives out iPhones, I'd like to be free to choose something that supports my IT/Linux demands as well as my Adobe Flash/Flex demands. Maemo hit both of those with the 770 and later the N810.

The missteps of Nokia are numerous. But they can be boiled down to just a few things. Nokia seems like a company that has a killer platform but do not know how to properly push, market or show off what Maemo could do for others. It's not about comparing yourself to Samsung Bada, or Apple iPhone's iOS, or even Microsoft Windows 7 Phone... it's all about being an open source choice that supports the geek (root, ssh, Python, Qt) as well as the media (Flash, mp3, HTML, e-mail, Skype) and how they are leveraged equally in one OS quite well.

This community gets that. fMMS, The One Ring, Tear... just to name a few that I use daily. There are many others of course. But my point though is that people in this community get Maemo. Apparently better than Nokia gets Maemo.

But to see that Maemo 5 will fade, just like Maemo 4.0/4.1, just like OS 2007, just like OS 2006 and the support is ripped from under the folks that held out for Mer, Mer^2 and now we're supposed to have faith that MeeGo will get support for the N900 by the community and "perhaps" for the N8x0... there's nothing to hold onto now.

Just opens the door even wider for negativity. Which, I don't personally like.

I'm long-winded, I'm unhappy with what's going on and my future with Maemo is questionable not because I'm unhappy with the OS. I'm unhappy with the lack of direction, the lack of continued support and ultimately the lack of communication from Nokia.

That last one can be easily rectified. Nokia needs to embrace people like GA, Texrat, Fatalsaint, qole, bundyo, lcuk, among many others. Embrace the newer folks, the ones still with faith... and communicate well for once.