[maemo-community] My Perception of the Maemo/MeeGo Community

[From: Daniel Young]

I like you am a US resident and I like you wanted a device that was completely linux and was more then ecstatic when I read about the N900.  I've been using it as my daily phone for two years in December.  I don't normally post on the mailing list but I do subscribe to all of them so I can feel involved and if anything is going astray with my N900 there is usually someone sending an email with the same problem on the lists.  I have only seen one other person to have the N900 and i dont know anyone who hasn't gotten there phone from there carrier.  I also have a feeling that I will be migrating to android in a short time but am disappointed as all of them seem to be the same large-screened touch phones and very little options for a phone with a physical keyboard.  We are all in the same community though and while I do not develop for Maemo/Meego I consider myself a super power-user that can usually get most things working.  Maybe its just my lack of involvement in these mailing lists but I feel that people act similarly to the way people act on a few of the forums I am involved in.  There will always be outbursts, which I do not consider your message an outburst.  I am frustrated too by the lack of choice I have for my next device and would love to see a production version of the N950 but still know it will never happen.  I will still subscribe to these lists as I am generally interested but will probably continue to only read them and not really post.  
----- Original message -----
> Foreword:
> This is a very long, blog-like message. Thanks to those who read through 
> it. I am posting here instead of my personal blog as I want to create a 
> discussion instead of a reaction.
> 
> I feel I should explain my thoughts of the Maemo/MeeGo community from 
> the perspective of a US resident. I realize my opinions are mine and 
> mine alone. I welcome any response, particularly those who live in the 
> US. My perception of the Maemo/MeeGo community is that those directly 
> involved (Nokia employees, Maemo council members, Maemo workers) have a 
> self-entitled, elitist attitude. I cannot recount any time I have had a 
> warm, fuzzy feeling from discussions that I have been associated with or 
> not. Yes, the preceding is a general, subjective comment. Let me break 
> it down:
> 
> First and foremost I wish to comment on the interactions I've had on the 
> mailing lists. The few times I communicate with Maemo/MeeGo folks it 
> comes across as hostile. This may be from a native English speaker 
> talking to non-native speakers. A few examples:
> -Posting "wrong list" comments on e-mails who's topics are half-way 
> between the two Maemo lists. Get over yourself. These lists are so low 
> volume these kinds of comments are off-topic and are inflammatory.
> -Knowing your job title. I don't know the title or position you hold by 
> just your name, nor should you expect me to. Telling someone "well Bob 
> Smith told you X, you should believe him". Why? One time in the past I 
> was given a "Who are you?" type of response, which is obviously very 
> condescending. The Maemo/MeeGo community is very small and unknown. 
> Consider the fact that outsiders have no idea who you are.
> 
> The general US resident does not purchase a phone that is not sold at a 
> wireless phone carrier's store. I feel I can speak with certainty that a 
> super majority of the cell phone owning, US population does not buy a 
> phone on their own. My friends, co-workers, and family have all 
> purchased phones from their carrier. I do not personally know of anyone 
> besides myself that has purchased the phone directly from the
> manufacturer.
> 
> Why is the paragraph above important?
> Maemo/MeeGo devices are not sold by US carriers. They will only be in 
> the hands of a few thousand US residents compared to the millions of 
> Android or iOS devices. My friends, co-workers, and family will never 
> own a Maemo/MeeGo device so I can never write an app for them or share 
> my experiences with them.
> 
> I feel any time or effort put into a Maemo/MeeGo device would be 
> wasteful. After working on a few projects I felt any further time 
> programming for Maemo/MeeGo would be wasted. I stopped working on a 
> karaoke app because of it. I do not see any large following 
> internationally either. This mailing list (including maemo-developer) 
> has fallen completely silent. I wasn't motivated enough to ask for a 
> N950 to develop on after seeing the responses to the announcement of the 
> N9 by US-based news/blog sites, which were mostly negative.
> 
> Why have I made this e-mail?
> I wanted to have a true Linux phone (kernel + userspace) and Maemo/MeeGo 
> seemed like the answer to my prayers. I have no certainty of Nokia's 
> investing in marketing or even shipping a device to the US. I feel my 
> only move is to reluctantly transition to the Android platform. Does 
> anyone else share my sentiment or do you have a different perception?
> 
> Before anyone pulls out the Angry Birds card they should know that it 
> does not apply to me. I do not wish to make a cross-phone app. Angry 
> Birds was only successful when it moved *from* Maemo *to* Android/iOS/BB 
> devices. Maemo/MeeGo does not even promote cross-phone development. 
> Using Qt on a phone platform will soon die with MeeGo since Symbian is 
> dead and WP7, even if it provides a Qt runtime, is a completely 
> uninteresting platform to me.
> 
> Footnote:
> Who am I? I'm just your typical, ignorant American. I work in the health 
> care industry as a software programmer and maintain packages in the 
> Fedora distribution in my spare time.
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