“Today, we run Linux, X, Gnome, Flash, and friends on Nokia N800. Our big idea form the start was to run –as closely as possible– a desktop Linux stack. Others will start to do the same and I predict that mobile software will thus eventually die. All we need is software that runs everywhere.”

I at least read that saying as saying that yes, compatibility with desktop operating systems is a valid target. Of course it’s still a some ways away, because of both the performance and the user interface issues. Performance issues will get solved, the user interface issues will be the most interesting ones.

It is by no means trivial to design an application where the UI would scale elegantly to both the desktop size and a really small mobile display size. It really requires a quite radical rethinking of the task flows etc. That is imho one of the current problems with many of the UMPC’s and other initiatives, they just take the desktop UI and try to make it fit. Mobile device use is different in many aspects, and in order to provide good usability, it requires a more fundamental rethinking of the UI that what is generally the norm. So even if everything would run in a technical sense, and even if the UI would be “drawn on screen correctly”, I don’t think that that would be the point where the goal of desktop-like mobility would be achieved.

as for roope’s comment on the gui. i would say that if you design a gui with the finger in mind from day one, it can be used with both a stylus and mouse later on.

but if you design with a mouse or stylus in mind first, its very hard to go the other way.

basically, everything have to be of a size where a finger can hit one without hitting any other. sure, looking at it from a computer screen it may look bloated and a waste of area, but what if said screen was touch sensitive?