Bonum Certa Men Certa

Asus Eee's GPL Violation, Xandros Replaced by Debian GNU/Linux and Ubuntu

Patent protection expires



It is probably easy to forget that this Web site also calls for a boycott against Xandros, whose deal with Microsoft was as bad as Novell's. The domain boycottxandros.com is still alive and well. Xandros is a company far smaller than Novell, so there is rarely an opportunity to mention it in context and in line with the news.

”The companies violate the licence by not passing back modifications to the Linux kernel, apparently.“The Asus Eee has been making a lot of media buzz ahead of Christmas and amid the Christmas shopping season. It is one of the most sought-after gifts, according to an article from The Register (published last Thursday). We did not neglect to mention the Eee before, if only due to the fact that it uses Xandros Linux [1, 2, 3]. The Eee, along with Intel which it sports, is also somewhat a foe to One Laptop Per Child (OLPC), which is a not-for-profit project that was sabotaged mercilessly by Microsoft and Intel. That's a long story worthy of a separate post, which would not fit the theme of this Web site.

The Eee is designed, built and assembled by Asus, but it runs Xandros (i.e. just Debian with proprietary bits and Windows-esque 'strap-ons'). That said, it has probably already violated the GPL, which we spoke about yesterday. The latter part means that even if you wanted to replace the Microsoft-taxed Linux with a Free Linux (one whose maker did not sell out), you would not be able to make it work. The companies violate the licence by not passing back modifications to the Linux kernel, apparently.

What you won't find on that site are sources. ASUS is bound by the GPL to make the sources for the software they're distributing available, even if they have not modified them. (Check the license if you don't believe me.) ASUS has posted a 1.8GB ZIP file on their website that they claim is the sources, but it's not -- it contains a few .debs (not even the versions that ship on the machine) and some kernel headers. (Perhaps they figured nobody would pull 1.8GB from their slow-as-molasses site and find out.)


I have this confirmed by a second person who tried to reproduce this quick test earlier today. According to this article, this isn't the first case of violation.

”This whole situation is also akin to installing Linux on an H-P PC which came with Windows preloaded.“The encouraging news is that there is a new project (http://debian-eeepc.alioth.debian.org/) which is intended to have the Asus Eee converted to Debian, but without the missing bits above, there's little chance of getting all the hardware working properly. But wait! It gets worse.

This whole situation is also akin to installing Linux on an H-P PC which came with Windows preloaded. Microsoft strives to capitalise on the channel in the same way that railroads owners abused the market early in the century (or the last one). History has taught us that companies will try to ensure that they get paid no matter whose product you buy (theirs or their competitors'). In this case, Microsoft uses FUD and even 'bribes' companies like Novell ($300,000,000+) to accept some sort of liability that is associated with patents, which they are unwilling to talk about (and probably never counted anyway). They try to make it a precedent and then pass on the liability to other companies such as Xandros. Whether Microsoft gets paid for each Eee laptop which is sold we do not know for sure. If that is not the case, it might change in the future (change for the worse, that is).

If people don't stand up against this, they are simply allowing the abuse to grow and thrive (unless/until regulators break up the offending party). Again, this is just a case of looking and history and learning from it. Some of us, for one, are unwilling to be a neutral party and refuse to intervene.

The Asus Eee can also run Ubuntu by the way: Ubuntu 7.10 Gibbon swings on the Asus Eee

The Gibbonfest continues. We've just had an Asus Eee in to look at - the €£220 laptop that everyone who's seen it is going to buy. It's one of the hottest things in the office this year: the combination of the insanely low price tag, the perfectly functional specification (512MB RAM, 4GB internal flash SSD, wi-fi, real keyboard, VGA display) and its extreme portability makes it an instant hit.


Also see: Asus Eee PC 4G sub-sub-notebook [as a hackable and hacker-friendly machine]

Linux buffs and geeks will love its sheer hackability. For two hundred quid, it's a perfect impulse buy for folk who love messing around with operating systems.


Some people claimed to have already installed Mac OS X and Windows on this unit also.

Related old articles about the Xandros deal:



Xandros is only one among 8 companies that have signed a Linux patents deal (or one that alludes to Linux) with Microsoft. Xandros was a second fiddle to Novell.

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Lies Need to be Corrected
the Court never invited us
 
The EPO's Central Staff Committee Presents Evidence That Staff Compensation Lowered While the Office Increases Income by Illegally Granting Invalid Patents
These people become millionaires by doing illegal things
Second or Third Wave of Microsoft Mass Layoffs in October 2025, This Time Portugal
Those are just the ones we know about, there may be several more
'Help Net Security' (helpnetsecurity.com) May Have Become a Slopfarm as Well
Zeljka Zorz, Editor-in-Chief at Help Net Security, was reported to us
Gemini Links 17/10/2025: Rant About Network Solutions, Strange Anomaly on Lagrange
Links for the day
EPO Staff Representation Lacks Social Dialogue With Relevant Management, Controversial and Sometimes Illegal Policies Implemented Without Necessary Input
"In this open letter, the CSC requests that the President submits an agenda item in the next available General Consultative Committee (GCC) meeting on setting up regular meetings between the CSC and the higher management of DG1."
Links 16/10/2025: Political Leftovers and Gemini Protocol Links
Links for the day
Slopwatch: Guardian Digital (linuxsecurity.com), Slashdot, Google News, and More
Maybe one day, once the bubble pops completely, Google News will just outright delist all slopfarms
Lufthansa Modern Slavery, Joerg Jaspert (ganneff) & Debian NSB Softwareentwicklung charade
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 16/10/2025: US Starting More Trade Wars With China, CIA War on Venezuela
Links for the day
SUSE Blog is Still LLM Slop, Marketing Manager at SUSE Cannot Write
Would you buy from a company or seek support from a company that cannot even write (or fakes writing)?
Pretend You're Not Dead: Microsoft Spent Almost Two Decades Rebranding Things as "Cloud, Then "AI", Now "XBox" and "Quantum"
"AI" bubble pops, Microsoft harping about "quantum" already
IBM Allegedly Found New Tricks for Silent Layoffs: LPI, Then MIS (Not PIP)
Remember that "Red Hat layoffs" won't be reported after the bluewashing
Links 16/10/2025: Red Lines and Feeding of Microsoft Trolls
Links for the day
MIT as a Propaganda Mill of GAFAM, Paid by GAFAM
"the news" today
Links 16/10/2025: Lies Euphemised as ‘Dueling Versions of Reality’ and Microsoft "Open" "Hey Hi" Resorts to Porn as No Business Model Was Found
Links for the day
The Local Staff Committee Munich (Representation of the EPO's Staff) Explains When Cluster of Pregnancies May Result in Reduced Pay
"...even one week of part-time working is sufficient to reduce the salary you perceive during the entirety of your maternity leave."
Another Black Eye for 'Secure Boot', Microsoft Media Tries to Blame "Linux"
It enables Microsoft to remotely control computers, even computers that don't run Windows and never had any Microsoft software installed
Slopwatch: UbuntuPIT, linuxsecurity.com, and Various Slopfarms in Google News Attacking "Linux"
A new survey of the Web said that the majority of the Web is now slop (that's being said in the news this week)
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, October 15, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, October 15, 2025
Links 16/10/2025: Increased Use of Social Control Media Surveillance in US, French Rage Over Pensions
Links for the day
Links 15/10/2025: Qantas Airways Loses Control of Sensitive Data and Software Patents Are Being Thrown Out
Links for the day
Vista 10 is 'Dead', Here's Why People Should Move to GNU/Linux (or the BSDs)
Today we try to make an outline of reasons move away from Windows to GNU/Linux
Our Sites Continue to Improve
LLM slop has had no noticeable impact on us
Gemini Links 15/10/2025: Neovim, Helix Compared and Gemlog.blue Now Closed
Links for the day
Links 15/10/2025: Mass Layoffs at Amazon, OneDrive Spyware Revved Up, More 'Gen Z Protests'
Links for the day
The EPO's Staff Engagement Survey 2025 is Already Tainted by Intimidation by EPO Management (Trying to Influence Outcomes by Scaring Genuine, Honest Critics)
"[W]e have received reports that, following the previous survey, teams with negative responses were reproached or questioned about their answers..."
The DDoS Attacks by Microsoft's Scam Altman and Other Slop Charlatans and Frauds is Hurting the FSF, Delinking It From Copyleft Projects
This impacts a lot more than access to the licences
Microsoft Scanning Faces in Photos People Upload to Microsoft (Even Unconsciously), Slashdot Turns Report About It Into "Microsoft Sez" (Says)
Or "let's repeat the lies from a PR person/Microsoft's publicist"
[Teaser] Angel Aledo Lopez the Manipulator (Nepotism, Poll Rigging, and Other EPO Corruption)
We'll discuss this later today or tomorrow, based on internal EPO material
Attacks on Techrights Are Only Making Techrights Bigger and Even More Popular
A week ago they offered to settle with us
Epic Metaphor for End of IBM: "The IBM Demolition is Down to the Last Shards!"
Nothing lasts forever
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, October 14, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, October 14, 2025
Proprietary and DRM Prisons Spiralling Down the Sinkhole? Not Just Yet.
Let's hope that more people will flee to GNU/Linux
The European Patent Office (EPO), the Second-Largest Institution in Europe, is Cracking Down on Recreational Activities
Without AMICALE activities, and as staff already says it's pressured to work more for less, how can the EPO recruit bright people?
Transparency: FSFE financial reports exclude speaker fees and expenses
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock