It is never the right time. Either the phone is too fresh with lots of bugs, or it is already old. Nokia has more or less admitted that the current Linux kernel is not at all optimized for the Omap3 processor, not even for basic stability, ie random rebooting in lots of devices.
The N900 is definitely too fresh as of now, although very usable for phoning and browsing and messeging/e-mail. Hmm, I think very usable is a good description of the N900 actually, with some exceptions. All in all, the best phone I have had.
Another thing. Other phones tends to get boring after a while. Not so with the N900. I don't know why exactly, but it is definitely a fact (for me )
Youtube plays #1 if you put it fullscreen, in the player it works but not as smoothly, so no real issue.
I myself am on Fido, i just had to swap my current SIM to the N900 and it worked, though through EDGE... but since you're in calgary I'd go with the N900 on WIND which i think may be coming soon and you should get 3G+
Well.. just speaking from previous experience - I got full KDE4 ported to debian and booted the N810 to it.
Penguinbait (I think?) got a full KDE4 port that loaded right onto Maemo for the N8x0.
And Easy Debian is already available that you could install the KDE-libs on, and then amarok, and just run Amarok from there. Problem here is, I think there is some issue with Easy Debian and sound - but some have managed a work around.
In Short: Yes.. it *will* be possible, what method or how is still up in the air - but for someone experienced they are doing things such as this right now on their N900's.
Now THAT is why I want Maemo on my device and not something else. I can do a lot of things with Linux, even if I have to resort to building the packages manually.
What Nokia needs to do is start trusting the OS community and open everything up ala Redhat and Fedora. Nokia has to be thinking KDE if they are making Maemo 6 Qt based. Why did they chose Debian as the base ? Why not at least Ubuntu, if not Fedora ?
If Nokia gets this right I sense that the N900 and future Maemo devices are going to be very, very successful.
Now THAT is why I want Maemo on my device and not something else. I can do a lot of things with Linux, even if I have to resort to building the packages manually.
What Nokia needs to do is start trusting the OS community and open everything up ala Redhat and Fedora. Nokia has to be thinking KDE if they are making Maemo 6 Qt based. Why did they chose Debian as the base ? Why not at least Ubuntu, if not Fedora ?
If Nokia gets this right I sense that the N900 and future Maemo devices are going to be very, very successful.
The great thing is Nokia only has to get the openness right. With almost everything else, it is fixable. Not that I'm implying they shouldn't at least try.
BTW, I think Nokia is rather thinking "We happen to own this great development framework called Qt that can help us solve our base system fragmentation. Why not use that?"
Reason #2 Maemo 6, the lack of an update to Maemo 5, lack of openness about future plans, etc.
Reason #3 A future N950 device
Bottom Line #1: 3G service sucks coverage wise where I live and I can't get a SIM for conventional cell coverage. At least the N900 has WiFi/ VOIP and thus I would have service wherever Wifi is available, but its not enough to make me want to abandon traditional cell phone service.
Bottom Line #2 I don't want to spend $600 on a device that isn't fully developed and might be abandoned in 8 months. Nokia doesn't tell its customers about its plans and/or commitment to a product, nor about its future product releases. I'm not spending money to be a late beta tester of software with no commitment to keeping the software current once Maemo 6 rolls out.
I've just been burnt so many times by stuff like this its easy to say no.
Last night I dug out my HP iPAQ 510 wifi/voip capable phone. I haven't looked at it in a year. It was pretty powerful when it came out 2 years ago... it browses via Wifi, runs Windows Mobile 6, etc. But its riddled with bugs, VOIP never did work properly, ZERO support by HP, etc. Nothing but frustration.
I just don't want to do that again. Call me when the N900 just works and I know its going to be supported for a decent amount of time. Until then, and until I figure out how to get some coverage for it, I'll watch from the side.
)