...which, again, is not an excuse but part of the problem. - Nokia employees should be allowed an encouraged to make such statements. They needn't say "Ah, yes, I know, everything we do here is wrong and bad, but I can't change it." - no. But what would be wrong with "We at Maemo/MeeGo devices understand your concerns and we're discussing the issue internally. However, please understand that it's not just our decision. There's quite a few others here at Nokia who have a say in this matter, so we can't promise anything. We're not giving up though and will keep you informed."

What ragnar contributed here was basically the "... it's not just our decision" part (or maybe I'm interpreting too much... whatever).
What's missing - and what would be crucial to know - is the "we understand your concerns and we're discusing the issue internally". At the moment, we just don't know if the people we thought we knew even share our concerns.... or if they just stare at this discussion and have no idea why anyone is upset at all.