I'm just really confused.

Nokia has no incentive to monetize anything around the N900 at this point, barring components that will be utilized for MeeGo devices as well.

The community has a lot of incentive to get currently proprietary Maemo components opened.

It makes sense for Nokia to open whatever they can ASAP. This isn't simply about euros, yen or dollars-- its about open source business currencies like trust and goodwill. The less Nokia accomodates those, the more they stand to lose monetarily in future endeavors. Can the company afford that? I think not.

Nokia HAS to repair its mindshare, fast, and this is a techncially easy way to accomplish that. So it's obviously politics holding this up. What will it take to change the necessary minds?

Goodwill goes farther than money in this world. Nokia has the right cultural climate to get this (I know first hand)-- it's just a matter of walking the walk.