[Galaxy Tab  Android Development] Flokey:
Let me shed some light on this whole issue :)

Reasons:

Google doesn't make honeycomb open source for one simple reason: So china-tablets can't ruin the reputation of Android tablets in general.

It is like Google would say: "Only tablets running honeycomb are original Android experience tablets"

They do that to get better reputation on the tablet market and to gain share against the Apple iPad and BlackBerry's playbook

Every other reason is just a made up excuse. But it makes sense...

It sucks for the development community, and I am pissed as hell because they didn't open source Honeycomb on the Google I/O, but I can understand it too.

It doesn't change much for the Open source spirit of Android if you take a closer look. They fulfill the GPL by opensourcing all the GPL bits (you can find them in AOSP right now) but this is less than 10% of the original Honeycomb code.

Honeycomb might or might not ever be fully released into AOSP, but they will definitely (that IS confirmed) fully publish every single bit of Ice Cream Sandwich in Q4 this year (which also contains all of Honeycomb merged into this release)

Ice Cream Sandwich, or Android 4.0 is a merge of all platforms and releases that are now in separate branches:

Google TV (Android 2.x with full Chrome Browser)

Honeycomb (Android 3.x especially built for tablets but lacks some smartphone functionality/optimization)

Gingerbread (Android 2.3.x including NFC capability and ADK thingy-stuff)

I know it is a ****ty long wait, but it will be worth it. It sucks really hard for the dev. community that has some devices that should in fact get a working Honeycomb port like: The nook color, The Adam Ink our belover Galaxy Tab, the GTab and others.

In the end it will pay off for us, because if the manufacturers and customers all over the world gain trust in the Android Platform as a good, solid, well supported OS for Tablets and other devices, the dev. community gains strength and support too.

The more money and workpower major companies like Samsung, HTC etc. dare to invest in terms of developing new hardware that is high in quality the better are then the devices we can build on. Furthermore the open spirit of the Android platform gains more momentum by better acceptance among the users and major hardware developers worldwide.

The more (potentially paying) users, the better tablet optimized the applications are, that are on the market. The generated revenue flows back into further development and better support of Android, because if you have a goose that ****s golden eggs, you feed it instead of killing it.

So, even if it might seem like a punch in the balls for us Galaxy Tab owners, we will profit from it later on.

I know this is hard to understand and you can be damn sure that I was raging when I heard that Andy Rubin himself said that Honeycomb will remain (to large amounts) closed source until further notice, but... what the hell. I'll donate the **** out of spacemoose that lays OUR golden eggs (pal, you're really damn awesome dude!) and enjoy a great, unofficial Honeycomb SDK port until those Mountain View people release the next big thing. And it will be all open and awesome... and it will include shiny things... I tell ya.

Ok probably this whole post is totally messed up and confused ( it is 5 AM here), but I hope you get the point :)

I'll write a more detailed and (hopefully) more structured post about this whole mess on my blog... So you can see, what Google is really up to.

If you haven't seen the keynotes yet.. hell... this will be Android's year and it will be worth the wait.

So support Spacemoose and Dip7 with all the spare change you can give.. We can build something awesome too, with or without the support of Google.

They have their reasons to temporarily close the development.

But WE are the community and WE will get our Honeycomb, it is just a matter of hard work, time and brainpower.

We will succeed. Hell, this is XDA, isn't it? :D

(if anyone wants to read my review of Android's development, request it here, I will post a link, but I won't post my private blog here without being asked... it is too off topic and I don't feel well spamming you guys unasked)

EDIT: I gotta go to bed... sorry @spacemoose for spelling your name wrong TWICE :D