http://linux.slashdot.org/story/09/10/27/1335227/Comparing-the-Freedoms-Offered-By-Maemo-and-Android

"Maemo 5 and Android have received a lot of publicity lately, despite the former not even shipping yet. Both have become famous partly for using the Linux kernel, but now that we have a choice, how do we pick one? Is the issue as mundane as choosing your favorite desktop distribution, or is there a more significant difference? This article compares the two from an end user and developer perspective, emphasizing root access and ease of sharing code."

http://cool900.blogspot.com/2009/10/comparing-freedom-on-maemo-and-android.html

To be honest i've always liked Maemo 5 better, but Android is better than the other stuff out there so i settle. If/when i get Droid i'll see if i can get Maemo running on it since the Nokia n900 is just way too damn expensive.

Maemo 6 would be better coz it might support Qt based (KDE) apps in there when it will released in late 2010

BizAbh: Even Maemo 4 supports Qt apps. I've programmed some in Python using the PyQt wrapper. I'm still amazed how easy it is!

From Maemo 6 onwards Nokia will be coding the desktop and major inbuilt apps using Qt instead of GTK. For everyone else, GTK and Qt programming are equally possible.

Maemo gives you Nokia-sanctioned root access. No jailbreaking needed. That's a big plus in my opinion.

The downside in my opinion is that the new Maemo device, the Nokia N900, is chunky (18mm thick) and its 3.5 inch screen is smaller than some of the recent products from HTC and others.

Yap u r right . Sony new Rumored Android Phone XPERIA X10 will hav 4 inch screen and 8MP Camera with 32 internal space

Is it possible/practical to put Maemo 5 on other devices? Is it even out yet? The websites are a little confusing for a non-programmer like myself

DPic: The first Maemo 5 device, the Nokia N900, is likely to ship mid-November (having been delayed a few weeks). But hundreds of people are using Maemo 5 on devices loaned by Nokia to people who attended the recent Maemo Summit in Amsterdam (not me unfortunately!).

On non-Nokia devices, you're more likely to see Mer, which uses most of Maemo but replaces a few proprietary Nokia bits by open alternatives.

Android and Maemo are both built on Linux, but there's a huge difference. Android provides a unique Android API and programming environment. Maemo uses the standard Linux build chain so you can use whatever programming language and GUI toolkit you like. Many if not most Debian Linux apps can be run on a Maemo device by a recompilation and slight tweaking of the user interface. You want OpenOffice or AbiWord on your Maemo phone? No problem. Heck, even Windows 3.1 has been demonstrated running under DOS emulation on the N900.

The main development languages for Maemo are C (with GTK), C++ (with Qt), and Python (with GTK or Qt) but many others are possible.