I wanted to get feel for other opinions so I thought I'd start this thread. On the whole I like my BB quite a bit, but there are a few things which irk me with it:

1. Most importantly, it seems to be a windows-centric device. If you want to update the software there is no linux package to allow it. Being a linux user, and an IT professional I find this lack of support surprising. Surely they realize that most geeks use linux. How do they expect to stay appealing to the IT market in the future if they do not address this? There is a very nice sourceforge package called barry that enables charging from linux, but no app loader.

2. ... [here is where I am hoping for contributions]

Check out the Linux forums.
Linux Users Corner - BlackBerryForums.com : Your Number One BlackBerry Community

linux as much as it is liked is a secondary OS at best. The vast majority of the world use Microsoft Products. Not to mention business use is mostly limited to Exchange, Groupwise or Domino. Currently, only PCs are supported with Desktop manager. I can only speculate this is because Windows is the most prevalent OS. I have no idea what RIM plans in this department, but I would assume Mac OS will get some love before Linux does.

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The whole idea of thje open paradigm is that freedom to create things lies in the hands of the market. Im no geek but i think the open source comunity is the one to look at. Rim did a good job supporting java. The rest is up to the comunity

welcome to the forums

And that's why there is a Linux and Mac User forum here, so like minded individuals can gather and come up with solutions that fits their needs.

Absolutely. But it looks like RIM's chance to court the linux community as pretty much at a close. The open source community is about to jump on the Andriod bandwagon.

Moving to the Linux Users Corner.

RIM is squarely to blame - I have heard from more than one kernel developer that RIM drags their feet on getting them material (if at all), even after signing NDA contracts and so forth. RIM is the one to whom people should complain about no support, they aren't even trying to help out in a fastidious manner; coders are having to do everything by themselves (reverse engineering).

http://marc.info/?l=linux-usb&m=120155944805973&w=2

Greg is a core kernel developer and module man, he wrote and maintains the berry_charge module for us.

I complained all the time about not having much support for Linux, but I've just learned to find the workarounds. Things move forward, but they move forward very slowly.

While it's true I can type much faster with my BB than my old motorola v330, a good cell phone in its day but not a pda, I could do so much more with my cell phone. I could connect the modem via bluetooth to my laptop, I could send any file I wanted via bluetooth to or from my v330, I could use my v330 as a remote control.

The BB is inferior in so many ways. I can't get proper ssh without shelling out $100. I can't update without windows etc.. I will never get a BB again.

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Blackberrys are different. The device is superior for many users, which is why they pick it. You should use instead a product that is suited to your wants and needs.

Take heart. RIM is facing a dangerous time and it is is likely they will start to make some good decisions, or at least I hope so. OOS and Linux are slowly gaining popularity and establishing a strong foothold in the business world and with Google's Android on the horizon Linux users will finally have an excellent cell phone option. I predict (again hopefully) that this will wake RIM up to the importance of supporting the Linux community.

In short, they'll have to scramble to not be left behind. I really like my BB. I hope I do not have to abandon it. But like I said before. Once a better option comes along I will not look back. As I suspect neither will you.

Uuuhhhhh, I never

Agree :(

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