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Posts: 248 | Thanked: 191 times | Joined on May 2010 @ New Zealand
#125
Is anybody able to say what the roadmap for n900 users is?

Will there be a MeeGo release for the n900?
If not, what will become of Maemo?
As Nokia shifted its focus from Maemo to MeeGo, if MeeGo is not going to be available for the n900, and the community supports Maemo on the n900 into the future instead, will Nokia give them/us what we need to support it properly?
The shift to MeeGo, as I understand it, involved a shift from GTK to QT - and an SDK for QT on Maemo was made available to allow for app development across both platforms to be seamless. However, if support for MeeGo into the future is to be limited to one device this year - is there any benefit to n900 users in development work continuing with QT for Maemo? Would it be more straightforward to continue the work with GTK?
I recently installed Gnumeric, and I am full of admiration for the people who achieved this. This is one of the most significant breakthroughs for this device, as far as I am concerned. I am presuming that this was done using GTK, not QT, am I right? Might this open up a glimmer on the horizon that we might get to see something like AbiWord on the n900 one day? I love the idea of being able to use Open Office via Easy-Debian, but realistically, the traditional Gnome apps make much more sense on a device like the n900, as they are leaner.

I have had a look at QT on the laptop, although until I get a proper broadband connection, there is a limit to what I can do with my Debian PC. I am concerned that there appear to be several variants of QT - there is the one in the ubuntu repository, there is the one on TMO (which doesn't seem to install too well), there is the one hosted by Nokia, there is the one hosted by Intel, and there is the MeeGo one. Each one allows for the installation of different UX environments, depending on the area developing for - but it is not straightforward how one ends up with one installation of QT, and then adding different runtimes on top. Instead, what seems to happen is you end up with different installations of QT, and slight release variants.

Would it be easier, in looking at getting more involved with Maemo, to work with GTK? Personally, I am more interested in linux than mobile UX, and I'm really quite happy with Gnome - I have tried using KDE, but TBH I do think it is as **** as Windows. I'm a bit of a barbarian - I just want to be able to get at the apps I want to use, and don't give a damn about all the sexy graphics that sit between me and what I want to do.

Sorry, lots of assumptions, lots of questions, and lots of waffle - but I do like my n900, and I would like to get involved in working with people to keep it on the road as long as possible.

Thanks,

Mish