Motorola chooses Linux as primary platform

Infoworld reports that Motorola has decided that Linux will be their primary software platform from now one. New features will be developed on Linux first.
Recently I have been wondering on how Motorola thinks about Linux. Motorola is well on its way to replace Nokia as the biggest telephone manufacturer. As Motorola is also the frontrunner in using Linux on there phones, I wondered if there was any relation.
Either Motorola is becoming big because of Linux, or Linux usage is growing because of Motorola.
This announcement shows that Motorola considers Linux as a strategic advantage, and not just a piece of cheap software.
The decision to go with Linux probably also has something to do with Nokia being the primary backer of Symbian. It's hard to compete with the guys that also write the software to power your device. Although Symbian is more or less independent, it's clear that they are strongly influenced by Nokia. By not using Symbian Motorola can fight Nokia on two fronts.
Ofcourse Motorola could have used Windows Mobile, but that's a hornets nest in itself. Microsoft has an agenda of its own, and you never know how they will use their software against you. Once addicted to their products the quality falls rapidly (take a look at IE), and there is nothing you can do about it (except for replacing it). If there is a bug to fix, or a feature to add, you'll have to wait for Microsoft. In a market where a product is outdated after 3 months, that's unacceptable.
And if Microsoft doesn't like a feature (eg because it competes with a product of their own), you can entirely forget about it.

By choosing Linux the ball is back in Motorolas court. They can develop it as fast as they want, add all the features they need, and they don't even have to pay a dime for it. Ofcourse they will have to pay programmers to write the software, but if you are as big as Motorola, that's not a problem at all.