I have never used awesome before, but decided to give it a try based on Skry suggestion. Out-of-the-box, it comes pre-configured to use Mod4 as its shortcut key, which usually maps to the windows key on the desktop, but is missing on the n900. The easiest fix is to edit .config/awesome/rc.lua and change Mod4 to Mod5, but I find this far from ideal as it makes the keyboard messier.
If someone knows how to improve the keyboard usage under e17, please share your tips.
It requires calibration to be usable ... In any measure, I have no experience with weston, so please post your tips.