I was born one year before Linux was. We went from an Amiga family to a Windows family in '95, and I didn't even see my first Linux machine until I was about 9. It was a Mandrake box, and almost everything running on it was an Xterm session. I remember thinking that it looked way more complicated than anything needed to be. When I turned 17, I started building computers out of spare parts and installing Ubuntu on them. I discovered the usefulness of the X terminal when things started breaking. (There's nothing more frightening than the video drivers crapping out and kicking you back to VC1; especially when you have no idea what any of this text stuff means.)

But that's desktop Linux. The N900 is a little different, since Maemo5 was built for the device and vice-versa. You don't need to screw with ndiswrapper to get your wireless antenna to work. You don't need to edit xorg.conf to get your mouse, keyboard, and monitor to play nicely. Xterm is essentially there for the power user. I use it all the time for tweaking configurations, killing rogue processes, and anything I do that's network-administration related is all done on the commandline.

So, what is the function of X-Terminal? On the N900, it's a useful tool for power users, and it's a must-have for the Linux guru. If you're a regular user, you shouldn't have to worry about it, but I'd recommend you start learning how to be a power user if you want to get the most out of your device. The N900 has way more potential than any other phone, because it's so closely tied to its Linux roots. If you're only using it for Angry Birds, it may not be the right phone for you.

Thinking back to when I started using Linux, I learned everything I didn't understand on forums just like this one. I usually just googled and lurked, because I was afraid of asking questions that would make me look like a noob. I relied on people asking the simple questions, and helpful people answering those questions. Ever since Nokia threw the baby out with the bathwater, the N900 has turned into a bitter elitist's device. Honest questions are answered with "Lrn 2 linux or GTFO, noob." You can't build a strong healthy community like that.