Let's not get wrapped around the axle over this.

The reality is we have big unknowns that at this point cannot be resolved. Declaring an end to the community is indeed premature but we definitely need this discussion to shape our options.

An expected outcome is a community poll to help decide how to proceed from here. It isn't a black and white "carry on until the plug is pulled" vs "abandon ship, abandon ship now!"-- the depth and breadth of this community combined with the unknowns means the possibilities are varied. But at some point we will need to act. Question is when?

One wrinkle is that Quim Gil reminded us that the given end of support date is NOT conclusive (one of the many unknowns). Nokia has not said one way or the other if they will or won't extend support for maemo.org further. That's both helpful and problematic at the same time. It just drives home what a limbo we're in, and why it's better to have a thorough discussion... but no reason to jump to any action just yet.

Sorry for rambling. 4 hours sleep each night this week and not enough coffee this morning... but hopefully I made some sense.

And as tso noted, you'll find it.

I really don't understand your remarks...

I've already said that the first thing I saw on that site was "Win 7 tablet shipping". that is something I will NEVER have to see on maemo.org. The top two posts right now on the front page are about windows based devices. As I said, not my cup of tea.

I saw that. and as tso and I both have noted, that's not what the coverage is limited to. Begging your pardon, I don't understand why a given day's selection and order of articles is an automatic dealbreaker but to each their own. I just try to be objective and agnostic and have no trouble going from Windows to Linux to whatever based on my needs.

Again, the coverage at umpcportal is broad. The forum already has places for Maemo discussion. I'm not saying it's the only option for maemo.org expatriots, I'm saying it's a good one IMO-- and that was largely intended for those who had indicated a desire for a general "tablet" home anyway.

I don't think it's particularly important to quantify the number of people/users who 'want' to see this community (+infrastructure, idea, etc) die.

On the other hand, those voting 'yes, let's try to keep this alive' should also be asked whether they're ready, willing and able to do their part for the continuity of this.

I'm sure it is a good website and all but it's not for me as I have ZERO interest in Windows, Apple, Bada, Symbian (might have some interest in this if pyside works) or other non linux based devices.

One thing I want to propose before I forget: already the proposal shaping is getting diffused. We need a single source for managing referendums, etc. Does a wiki page make most sense?

Well voting has to be anonymous. I would say that it has to be asked of those persons who run for Council.

And I do think that people should do their part. One of the ways to reduce costs is to use volunteers for the roles within maemo that used to be paid positions (or part of paid positions).

I've had some experience with an Android tablet and phone, and in both cases my response to the capacitive screen is, "people actually want this?"

But I've found that the Android VNC client offers a "touchpad" input mode, which makes it possible to move the pointer without having it covered by your finger. Using it is very counter-intuitive, but it makes precision possible.

Back on the very important topic of this thread: my emotional response is with those who want to return to the Internet Tablet Talk brand for this forum. However, I do wonder how well this would actually work. Yes, there are a lot more tablets out there now, but they aren't Maemo tablets. Can this community really benefit from aligning itself with those users? The result would be a community that's both hardware and OS agnostic, with only a general sense of form factor in common.

Ok, I've been on here since 2007 when I bought a 770, and it's been an ace ride! Even aside from the NITs I appreciate Nokia design and also Symbian (daughter and wife have N8 and E7 respectively, just bought the E7 as well). Unless it dies, I am hoping for at least another year from the N900, and still use my N8xx devices as well.

I appreciate that Maemo will wind down to become back to more of an enthusiast community as some people naturally move from the N900 to other devices as contracts etc expire, and there is currently no available replacement as the N9 is "still around the corner", and for us mere mortals the N950 is the unicorn of the phone world.

I think that the maemo/meego community still has a decent life left, and enough users to keep it vibrant.

However I do think we need to try and galvanise the community which are here, and keep them here. This comunity has always been good at being self-reliant, and now needs to be more than ever.

There needs to be a discussion etc, about the way forward. That really needs to be led by the council, and nominees for the upcoming elections, should and need to sell their ideas to keep this community moving forward.

The community members should ALL vote, and need to put faith in the council to take the matter forward. I feel that it is an obligation for all community members who are eligible to vote to vote so the council has an consensus to act.

Online votes for every decision won't work. We are a community like a town, and like a town, should trust and empower the council to work on our behalf.

As a community, I think we need to

- continue to push the CSSU work, and advance Maemo on the N900

- work to persuade and encourage developers where possible to back port apps from Harmattan (N9/N950) back to the N900 on maemo - this will help keep the platform alive and vibrant.

- If apps cannot be backported to maemo, then packaged for vanilla Meego for the N900.

- Meego CE should be adopted as a community "official" OS for the n900, and where possible push the development chatter etc within this community as well as meego.com.

- the council should keep close liason with Quim about the future of the support from Nokia, This community is also going to be a key part of whatever N9 support "ecosystem" (hate that word) emerges.

- community members need to contribute back as much as possible. Even if that is just posting good news stories, tips, etc for Maemo on the N900. Allaboutsymbian has some good examples of the sort of posts we should have (day in the life, pimping up, game and app reviews etc). traffic like this is good for the devices and again keeps this an interesting place for the community members to visit.

Think I've rambled for long enough.... If the community needs volunteers for anything I'm up for it if I can offer something positive.

Maybe we need a Jobs section?