...they switched to rpms :P

.. when Meego was announced. Because it represented yet another (and even larger) turn of direction. Nothing can come out of a plan with no firm direction, you won't be able to hold on to developers that way.

when I noticed meego's developers were in denial

It's almost 14 months since I made a post here but I was pretty sure Maemo/Meego was doomed with the shambles that was the N900 release. It was pretty clear then that nothing within Nokia had really changed and it was just going to business as usual (i.e.no clear direction with poor and confusing execution).

Like I said then

Well I guess Nokia are "still around" nominally but we all know they're done as a company. For most people though they've been "done" for years owing to their inability to produce a device people would actually like to own.

Meego isn't a fail by a long shot.....
While we may not see a handset for a while, the mobile platform itself is already here.
Intel now have an opportunity to develop and enhance an OS that will make the most of their own improving chipset design and that's ignoring ST-E.
I'm sure SE would love the opportunity to use an ST-E chipset and Meego, to break away from the shackles of Google, after all, they were one of the last outside Nokia to still use symbian and UIQ, despite it's detractors, was a strong selling OS for SE, shipping in a whole host of Walkman devices before getting the axe.
SE also have plenty of experience developing custom/Overlay UI with the likes of UIQ, S60 V3 and 5, and Android so it's not unlikely that another Mobile Phone manufacturer won't jump in to fill the void left by Elop's stupidity.
the question is....... Will die-hard Nokia Fanboys (and girls) move to another manufacturer if it means getting a good Meego device?
I for one, will. i have no binding commitment to Nokia.....

I would like to say I didn't see this coming but I did. Elop is an M$ man and Nokia are struggling. They never gave it much support and the N900 was a disaster because Nokia didn't know what it wanted.

Intel don't need and OS, they are a chip manufacturer and I never understood why they need to feel like they will release an OS, with Nokia gone what is the point of an OS without a hardware manufacturer to release phones with it. I think Meego is a very dodgy future and for Nokia the future certainly isn't rosy.

But then again they change their OS direction more times than I change my pants. So who knows. WP7 isn't selling well and M$ will remain at the bottom % of market share for mobile phone OS compared to apple, android and blackberry. Nothing Nokia or M$ do will change that.

Intel don't "need" an OS per se, however having input in the development of one, to ensure optimisation/best performance for a given chipset/cpu is a great way to sell more chips to phone hadware manufacturers.
Intel is desperate to getin on the mobile platform action and I doubt that they'll miss any opportunity to market their gear via any avenue that gives them an edge over the competition

I knew Meego would fail when I heard it was superior to other OS when it comes to configuration and openness. I just knew that someone somewhere would prevent it from ever hit the market with full support by a major player.

Also, when I found out that they are forbidding GPLv3 and downgrading all affected packages to ancient versions.

Incorrect/rather inaccurate: the things installed on device obligated to be there to be compliant. Rest of distro has plenty of GPLv3 in it.