I want to know who the "normal users" jwz talks about are. The market for the Pre is largely power users to begin with, and a novice can install PreWare or FileCoaster with a relatively simple process that doesn't require rooting the phone, and is about as complex as running an installshield wizard on Windows. (They could really simplify it further with some improvements to WebOS Quick Install, but even the current process is just a few clicks.)

I think he's got some valid points about Palm's crappy attitude toward open source, and while I'm sure the red tape surrounding app store approvals will get better, I sympathize with his plight to get a couple of simple apps going. If you're a developer, you want every opportunity to get your app to as many people as possible, and that means getting on to the official app store.

I hope jwz's post is motivation for Palm to streamline the submission/approval process, but I think he vastly overstates the difficulty of homebrew installation.