Well... kind of open.

Some counter-examples: "Compliance" criteria are starting to become clear - you will be required to ship all of the MeeGo core components, and not any replacement components for them; to be called MeeGo. How these core components are decided on, and by who, has never been clear, and it appears to be as much by negotiation between commercial partners as it is technical merit.

One example: ConnMan instead of Network Manager. Core component, but no compelling technical arguments - and in fact Novell's Moblin used Network Manager, and they are now being forced to move to ConnMan. Every other Linux distribution in the world has settled on Network Manager, and MeeGo is backing a different horse, because one of the commercial partners has invested in it. Not technical merit, not open decision making.

Within workgroups, different components and applications will be included. So, for example, Evolution Express and Banshee were included in MeeGo Netbook, in spite of being GTK+ applications - primarily because a partner (Novell) pushed for their inclusion, and Intel forced them through. Where's the open roadmap & component selection?

Yes, the project aims to be open, and I'd like to see that happen, but plainly it isn't yet. What you have are people like Arjen justifying decisions which are made behind closed doors once they've been announced - the community is faced with a fait accompli. I don't mind a small number of people having a say on components, but I'd like that say to be recorded somewhere so that the greater community can understand the reasons for choices.

Dave.