What if some other company decided to use Maemo on their phone(s) as well, it is open source, so I guess there's nothing stopping them, as long as they make the proprietary bits themselves?

Maemo is not 100% open source. It's something like 70-80% open source, 20% closed. Nokia owns Maemo. The devices you see run Maemo (like the ones in China) that aren't made by Nokia aren't legal (and if they weren't in China then Nokia would sue them).

Mer on the other hand is suppose to be 100% open source so you can run it on anything provided you have drivers for the device you run it on.

You mean we can't do it legally. Legality is only a factor if I want to sell something. I just want a maemo phone I can use without downgrading to T-mobile's poorly ran network.

They use processors which are almost identical. The OMAP3 in the N900 has a slower CPU + a 400Mhz GPU. The Snapdragon in the LG Expo has a 1GhZ CPU and no GPU. The LG has some hardware that absolutely would not work (i.e. it's fingerprint reader).

However what I want to know if it is known. Could the type of processor the LG has even run the code of Maemo. Is it technically possible.

I am aware of Mer. Frankly I wouldn't even use Mer on my Nokia N810 Wimax. The last time I looked at mer It did not even look equal to Maemo4 OS2008 let alone comparable to Maemo 5.

Yes, you can't do it legally. Though I can't imagine you'd ever get it that far without hiding all your activities. Which then of course makes it harder to get people to work with if your putting up barriers to entry (to hide your activities). If it ever became popular enough like Cyrogen Roms for Android your going get a cease and desist letter.

It'd be easier to work with the Mer community.

Mer seems not so active now.
it seems to be forgotten.

if I am wrong, it's better.

Exactly. Mer seems to have been forgotten now that the N900 is out. All one needs to get an upgrade now is shell out for a superior device.

So I guess the answer is no. Maemo is going to die a slow death unless Nokia offers some options. I love the OS, but I just know if I buy an N900 I'll bethinking I could have faster mobile internet. If I switch and the reception is as awful for me as it is for everyone I know who has T-Mobile that'll be even worse.

i have been pondering myself. I really want the n900......but it doesnt have cdma which creates a slight problem (i use verizon).

As for the os, i really love the maemo os over the android os and would be very cool if it was available for say my droid eris

Threads merged.

I have also been pondering this refusal to license Maemo on other phones. It's increasingly to Maemo's disadvantage.

Heck if Nokia would just produce other phones with Maemo that would do the trick. If your not going to do a license deal with any carrier, then why force your potential customers to choose one.

You all may find this interesting. I have a family member with a 3G T-Mobile phone. I paired my N810 with it by blue tooth, and.... It was no faster than my At&t phone. (My At&T phone is a Nokia E61i which does not support AT&T 3G frequencies only edge.) I guess the truth is where I live it would not matter. Those 3G services everyone advertises must not be so widespread after all. I mean there is theoretical "coverage"...but not yet a reality for most people most of the time.

All of the above said. I would want to buy a phone that could take advantage of HSPA when available. Which is probably only down town, at the airports, or other high profile locations. Places where there is probably free wifi all over the place.