i so am ready for some kind of teaser from jolla.

I don't know... Coming from a PC background, I'd find it odd if my laptop warranty was void from updating the OS kernel...

It shouldn't be an "R&D" mode, and it shouldn't be used to try to suppress consumer rights (which - IANAL - might even be illegal in many places). The default position on any computer should be that the owner has full control, period.

How would you like it if your laptop died and the manufacturer refused to honour the warranty because you installed Mer on it?

Yes, it's a hostile world out there. No, knee-jerk reactions like locked bootloaders aren't appropriate.

In a world where one of the most locked down devices in the world can be rooted simply by visiting an appropriately crafted web page, do we really think something like an "R&D mode" is going to make any difference?

i just wonder why NONE of those big companys has released any consumer mobiledevices with x86 if intel is soo good?

seriously if jolla will use intel I jus take theyr device as an device marketed for early adaptors and NOT consumer device because theyr cpu has not been heavily tested.

what jolla should use is a hw and architecture they have been tested for long OMAP that is...

Moreover, that term probably is void itself if brought to justice. It's little more than a paper tiger. Yeah, you *can* deliberately ruin hardware by software, but how is that different from ruining the hardware by throwing it on the floor?

Just make sure the bootloader can't be damaged or overwritten, i.e. put the bootloader in ROM. That way you can can always flash the stock firmware, restoring your phone. They did it back in 1995 on mainboards, it worked just fine then (and saved my ***), so why can't it now?

Bootloader in ROM is bad for usability, since you can't install any custom OS, can't boot from external storage and etc.

We don't but I'd guess that the corporations behind media content and paid applications do and maybe some of the more average users as well.

I'd be perfectly happy with a switch to void the warranty and enable platform hacker mode. Just like for example how archos does it - they offer the tools for you to enable booting your own stuff on their devices but using those will watermark the device and effectively void the warranty (and remove the ability to play drm'd media). Anyway, the end-game is that I'm able to hack on it and they don't need to care if I manage to break it while hacking. win - win.

Maybe the solution from the WeTab feaseable:
http://wetab.mobi/en/developers/
Search for "HowTo – Get Root Access on WeTab OS".

Even Android devices can be returned to non-Jailbreak-mode.

Their solution is obviously a compromise:
- alllow everybody to become root - this is everything a developer dreams for. This is the most cheap way to spread developers devices to everyone interested in
- do not restrict hardware support at all (see below)
- restrict software support to those devices, that have not openend dev mode (root mode)

There are (at least) two risks:
1) Devs brick the device (accidentally or on purpose) and manage to return them to the manufacturer without having to pay a single penny. This would be the case, if the device is bricked so hardely, that it would be impossible or too expensive to find out, why the device is bricked.
2) Devs destroy the hardware with their developed software (e.g. overclocking)

The first could be solved by reanimating the device by reflashing the device as it has been done when it was produced (using JTAG, spelling casts, praying...). It would be thinkable to ask for a small obulus for such a service. This would never cover the expenses for the manufacturer, but at least it would recover some of it.

The latter has to be evaluated more closely: Is it more cost effective to just exchange this device at no charge or to evaluate the reason for the defect? That depends on how often will (defective) software actually kill the hardware? Or maybe it is even cost effective to kill 5 devices, until the darn clocking registers in the bootloader have the correct values :-)

This i doubt. I see this more in black or white. Eighter open the device (no risk - no fun) or use the "ecosystem" and pay for your needs to someone. I do not belive, that the no-risk-no-fun-people are that many, that it would be efficient to differenciate rules in applications or the OS itself to allow or forbid actions regarding the kernel or single apps or boot-skripts.

Please note, that this is IMHO :-)
@Sksteeps: Thanks for such inspiring questions. Mer will undoubtably benefit from all of the discussion!

I would gladly accept a void warranty if I wanted to overclock but I'm sorry I don't find losing the warranty acceptable because I wanted to install mt-toggles, or mobile hotspot.

Of course there should be a balance between security and freedom, (see here) but a switch like the one on the N9 and Android (allow installations from external sources) is enough. Also, although a rootkit is a serious threat we're not running a server in our pockets, and a random app without root privileges is just as harmful. An evil app doesn't need root to send my pivate data to the cloud, doesn't need root to send billable sms to premium numbers, doesn't need root to spam my contacts with ads, wipe my data, record my conversations, broadcast my position, take photos of me in the toilet.

So for me a locked kernel is just a lame excuse for security where there is none. Just make the cpu non-overclockable, or trip a one way switch to void warranty when overclocked. Even that could be contained (allow other components repair even if cpu is overclocked), but I know I'm asking too much.

Well, if you think that IBM, Cray, Fujitsu etc are being silly making supercomputers and should start making phones instead, feel free to suggest it to them ;-)

The point is that there's nothing inherent in the ARM ISA that makes for better energy efficiency compared to any other architecture (or if there is, all implementations so far have been incredibly bad and wasted that advantage).

Your OMAP-based handheld may last longer than your Atom netbook, sure, but that's because the rest of the system/SoC is designed to conserve energy well, particularly when idle. A PC is a terribly wasteful thing because it has to comply with 30+-year old design decisions in order to run software that expects them. An x86 (or even better, x86_64 or x86_32) system does not have to be a PC however. Remember the original Nokia communicators for example? i386s.