I just thought one thing and wahted to throw it out.
We keep talking about having open source on these desirable hardwares - so that even it the hardware reaches end-of-life, we can still continue to use it as we wish.

While this is absolutely true and is a good principle, in reality though we eventually abandon the hardware platform as some new device comes in.

Case in point - the Sharp Zaurus was a open platform (partially) and the Cacko ROM and the Opie guys were supporting the Zaurus even after Sharp started abondoning it - but that's just more for the record. Most Zaurus users have surely and steadily migrated to other platforms including the NIT.

One reason is that Open source software alone is not sufficient to keep a end-of-life product alive if there is not a open ecosystem around it - which will keep the users around the device. Without users, the open sourced software ultimately dies as well.

Of course all that I said above is dependant of the fact that the hardware also is not obsoleted - which it naturally does over time.