Asus corrects EeePC source issue, now onwards and upwards for Linux

Stan Beer
Wednesday, 28 November 2007 19:29

Opinion and Analysis

Asus has released a statement saying that it has provided the open source code for its wildly popular EeePC Linux sub-notebook. Now that company has thrown open its books so to speak, it's time to move on and let the first Linux computer to capture the imagination of the mainstream consumer have its place in the sun without further nitpicking.

Since its unveiling in July, the EeePC has captured by far more personal computing market share in such a short space of time than any Linux desktop or notebook computer to date. It is single handedly popularising Linux for the consumer.

Some would be purchasers are grumbling that it is overpriced. It hits the market in Australia a week or so from now at AUD$499. Comments such as - I can get a notebook for that; maybe when it hits $200 I'll be interested.

Well the EeePC is not a notebook - it's a sub-notebook. I'm guilty of making the comparison myself. This is a new type of form factor for the consumer space. Flash RAM instead of hard drive. Memory expansion card and USB sticks instead of optical drive. But above all, it's a Linux box and it's popular.

Some Linux stalwarts will object to the fact that the EeePC runs Xandros instead of a free distro like say Ubuntu but it's still Linux. Asus by making the EeePC as plug and play as possible is succeeding in bringing Linux to the masses in a way never done before.

The particular form factor of EeePC may not suit my needs but it obviously suits the needs of millions of other users which is why it is selling so well. More importantly though, the success of the EeePC will show other vendors that it's possible to make serious money by delivering innovative Linux products to the consumer computing market.

Asus has shown by its statement that it's also serious about conforming to the GNU GPL. The company says:

"Select your Eee PC product model from the list below to download the source code library at: http://support.asus.com/download/Download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us.

"The source code found here is complete to the best of Asus's knowledge. If you believe any additional source code files should be provided under the applicable open source license, please contact Asus at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and provide in detail the product or code module in question. Asus is committed to meeting the requirements of the open source licenses including the GNU General Public License.

"Asus is also pleased to announce the upcoming release of the Eee PC SDK. This will allow for the development on the Eee PC by the OpenSource community making it easy to develop, easy to port and easy to release software for the Eee PC platform. Please check back soon at eeepc.asus.com for more information in the upcoming weeks. We are pleased to work with the OpenSource GNU/Linux community to extend the richness of the Eee PC beyond the standard commercial offerings."

I don't think we can ask any more of Asus than that. So the Linux community should get behind this product because at this moment it stands at the threshold of starting a new chapter in which Linux will become a word used in any home that has a computer.