The*maemo.org community council got together during the MeeGo conference in San Francisco and discussed several topics related to maemo.org. Two of these topics are of widespread current interest to the community.

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1. MeeGo Conference. All of the Maemo Council member were able (despite logistics and flight cancellations) to attend the MeeGo Conference in San Francisco on 23-25 May 2011.* Nokia was conspicuously absent on an official level despite being a co-host of the conference.* Although many Nokia employees attended and some gave presentations on an individual level, Nokia had no part of the conference mindshare.* The only session related to Maemo hardware or software was the presentation of the N900 Developer Edition (DE) by Jukka Eklund of Nokia.* There were no cellphone devices presented or announced by Nokia, LG Electronics or any other manufacturer.* The keynote was largely disappointing except when community member Robin Burchell (w00t) was brought on stage to demonstrate the synchronizing of contact information across multiple devices.* In all, despite a visible commitment by Intel, the conference was a sobering experience that underscored the shard and sudden departure of Nokia and a cloudy short term future for MeeGo cellphones.
2. The Harmattan phone. The runup to the MeeGo conference was marked by several leaks and rumors regarding the harmattan device.* Although the formal presentation proposal was not selected, Quim Gil of Nokia still graciously confirmed the device and discussed it and related issues with a handful of maemo.org community members.* It was apparent that Nokia had wanted the device to be certified as MeeGo compliant in time for the conference but that discussions on this topic had not been resolved.* It became increasingly obvious during the conference that no other MeeGo cellphone was ready to be launched and Quim persuasively argued that certifying the Harmattan device as MeeGo compliant would be largely beneficial to the MeeGo project.* Particular details of the phone were not discussed, but it was indicate that the device will generally be "as open as the N900) for those people who wish to use it in that manner.* In particular, although the device would utilize the MeeGo app store if permitted, there would also be no restrictions against the side loading of application.* It was not clear if doing so would necessarily void the device's warranty or if Nokia would refuse to provide support, but it did seem likely that there would be an open moade and closed mode to the device.* It seems that discussions over the device's compliance are delaying the launch that would bring answers to many questions surrounding the device.* Unfortunately, the lack of specifices on the device and the current uncertain nature of the official relationship between it and the MeeGo project precluded Council from determining if and how community support would be provided for the device at maemo.org.* The issue will be revisited as soon as further information is available.
3. Coding Competition. Finally, the Council would also like to remind everyone of the community-run coding competition.* The deadline for submitting applications is June 30, 2011.* There are prizes and some associated events.* See the wiki page for more information.

Link: Original article.

My own additional personal opinion is that, in addition to all of the things that can delay a cellphone announcement, there are industry forces and considerations that made the launch of the Harmattan phone particularly difficult and still uncertain. I have no doubt that Nokia very much wants the device to be officially designated as a MeeGo device and marketed in that way because that would best leverage the resources put into the phone prior to February 11 and (partially) address the criticism that they abandoned the MeeGo project. Intel, the Linux Foundation and others have their own interests to advance, and seem to have not yet reached an understanding with Nokia.

For individual community members, the present circumstances are a reminder that even open source software projects can be dependent on commercial interests. In that vein, in should be noted that there has not yet been any announcement about the next MeeGo conference and the future of MeeGo handsets is uncertain. Some people and organizations may prefer openly or secretly for Maemo to become dead and part of history as a way to advance out of the current predicament. But I think the present difficult set of circumstances indicates that the community may best benefit by having an independent, self-directed, maemo.org which can operate without commercial interests.