Asus Eee PC violating the Linux GPL

Posted November 26, 2007 at 02:12 PM by Robert Nelson

Section: Computers, Laptops, Software / Applications

Asus has, up to this point received quite a bit of good publicity with their recent Eee PC. Now that seems to be changing just a little, members of the Linux community are beginning to stand out making claims of the Eee PC is violating the General Public License of Xandros, the default operating system.

The violation covers a few points but is centered around the fact that Asus has modified a module and failed to redistribute the source code. Cliff Biffle was the developer who originally found the asus_acpi module and has since made claims that he believes Asus had intended to hide what the module was doing by removing all references.

It seems that to remain in compliance Asus will have to step up and do the right thing, but more important is the fact that even with this violation most Eee PC users are still more than happy with the laptop. The market audience for the Eee PC just wants a solid, easy to use laptop, something that has not changed as the Eee PC remains a hot seller.

Via [Engadget]