Linked by Thom Holwerda on Tue 27th Nov 2007 21:12 UTC, submitted by Anonymous Coward
Asus has responded to the GPL violation allegations. "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 support@asus.com 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." Additionally, ASUS announced the upcoming SDK for the eeePC. "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."
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Member since:2007-02-17
I don't know what it's like in other countries, but here in Sweden, I find that it's very rare that people buy their software (this applies to software for personal use).
The vast majority of my friends have never ever paid for a piece of software - except for Windows licenses, which is pretty much mandatory when you buy a computer.
...
That said, I'd never dream of using anything but Linux on a device like this. But I do know what most of my acquaintances would choose - Windows.
The vast majority of my friends have never ever paid for a piece of software - except for Windows licenses, which is pretty much mandatory when you buy a computer.
...
That said, I'd never dream of using anything but Linux on a device like this. But I do know what most of my acquaintances would choose - Windows.
In this particular case, the laptop is $99 more expensive if you buy it with Windows than with Linux.
To get Windows and a set of equivalent Windows applications then the additional cost on this laptop, even if we don't count buying those applications, is either:
(1) $99 plus the effort to "find" Windows installable files for your applications and get them to your laptop (remembering that it does not have a CD drive)
... or ...
(2) the effort to wipe Linux, to "find" Windows OS installable files, plus download & install the XP drivers for the laptop, plus "find" installable files for your Windows applications and get them to your laptop (remembering that it does not have a CD drive).
It is STILL going to cost money, effort and/or time to get the equivalent Windows setup going on this laptop (even if people just happen to "find" the software laying about somewhere) compared to just going with the Linux setup.
Are you sure most people are going to go to all that trouble?
I don't think so, myself.
Edited 2007-11-30 00:24
Member since:2005-07-06
Member since:
2007-05-30
I don't know what it's like in other countries, but here in Sweden, I find that it's very rare that people buy their software (this applies to software for personal use).
The vast majority of my friends have never ever paid for a piece of software - except for Windows licenses, which is pretty much mandatory when you buy a computer. I've bought a handful of programs myself, perhaps 5 games and 3 applications for the last 15 years.
So I'm not convinced that the cost of software is much of a factor when people choose an operating system. Being able to use the applications that you like and not having to learn new stuff is.
That said, I'd never dream of using anything but Linux on a device like this. But I do know what most of my acquaintances would choose - Windows.