(with apologies to Jonathan Swift)

(EDIT, AS SOME PEOPLE DON'T GET IT: THIS IS SATIRE. THIS IS NOT A SERIOUS PROPOSAL.)

We all know ordinary mobile device users are unqualified to report bugs, and generally produce far too much white noise to discern anything useful from what they say.

As they obviously have nothing useful to contribute to the Maemo project, they should be taken out of the picture so we can concentrate on the real work of building a solid Linux platform.

The solution to this problem is clear:

People who want to buy a Maemo device should have to pass a test. Nothing complex, just the basics like "what is a repository?", "how do I become root?"... really simple stuff that everyone ought to know. Once you pass the test you'd be issued with a "Maemo licence" which would allow you to buy devices which use the platform.

Obviously this would annoy the most casual users who just want to buy a device and use it straight away without putting any real effort into it. But these are exactly the kind of time-wasters that Maemo would be better off without. Who needs all these mainstream airheads anyway, right?

So, every time someone tries to purchase an N900 they should first have to fill in a brief multiple-choice quiz to confirm their prior knowledge. We can then be sure they are capable of making a useful contribution to the community.

What do people think?