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News Asus Eee PC violates Linux GPL?

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by CardJoe, 26 Nov 2007.

  1. CardJoe

    CardJoe Freelance Journalist

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  2. steveo_mcg

    steveo_mcg What's a Dremel?

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    I was reading about this yesterday, from what i seen on the web their 1.8gig source download doesn't include a couple of parts that they have modified. I think the most important bit being asus_acpi which means your effectively tied to the supplied kernel until either it is reverse engineered or asus release the changes. I'm hoping its a matter of incompetence over malice and it will be resolved in due course, it would be a shame if it came to a law suite. I don't think Linux needs any bad publicity amongst the great unwashed/white box shifters just as it starts to make in roads.
     
  3. yuusou

    yuusou Multimodder

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    I already got my early christmas present running ubuntu so no problems there ^^
    a centrino duo t5500, 2gb ram, ati x2300, 120gb disc. Asus Z53j (I think its a regional version of F3).
     
  4. DXR_13KE

    DXR_13KE BananaModder

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    "That said, most Eee PC owners probably don't care - the entire point of the laptop is that it is focused at low-end users and those who want something which is simple and easy to use."

    i consider my self an advanced user and i would definatly would buy this laptop.... it is light, cheap and small, and has enough power in it for lots of stuff.
    if i got one i would install ubuntu in a flash.... but it seams i cant..... i will just wait for one that i can put the OS i want an that has a black color instead of white....
     
  5. Greenie

    Greenie What's a Dremel?

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    the original article is here: http://cliffhacks.blogspot.com/2007/11/asus-eeepc-first-impressions-and-gpl.html

    i doubt its something asus have done just to keep things closed, or so that it takes more effort to install whatever OS you please. They probably just forgot to include the modified source. I am sure we will see it appear in the next few weeks, because to adhere to the GPLv2 they will have to distribute the source, unless the authors of the current closed software have signed the rights over to asus

    DXR_13KE: you can install ubuntu on it, the cliffhacks page also has a tutorial to do that, recompiling the kernel using the modified asus_acpi to provide proper power management and after that, ndiswrapper to sort out the wireless.
     
  6. Woodstock

    Woodstock So Say We All

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    i thought asus_acpi was intgrated into the standard kernel, is it just the dsdt for this particular model
     
  7. Tyinsar

    Tyinsar 6 screens 1 card since Nov 17 2007

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    This laptop could provide a nice push for Linux and I'm torn between the violation of GPL and the thought that enforcing the GPL might cause Asus to stop making these (if they intentionally violated GPL). If Asus releases the source then all is well.
     
  8. IanW

    IanW Grumpy Old Git

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    DXR_13KE: The Eee is available in black if you shop around.
     
  9. Phil Rhodes

    Phil Rhodes Hypernobber

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    ACPI is by far the trickiest thing to get working on Linux laptops - frankly, unless you happen to have exactly the same hardware as an expert in the field, and you can get it installed and set up right (often no small task under PenguinOS, it's worth remembering) you will generally be out of luck. I have never seen any laptop other than an IBM Thinkpad correctly sleep or hibernate under Linux and that makes it effectively unusable for laptops in general.

    This is therefore a fairly turnkey piece of software and, while I hesitate to assume that anyone's acting maliciously, it wouldn't be surprising to find that someone considered it sensitive.

    Phil
     
  10. completemadness

    completemadness What's a Dremel?

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    I dont know what youve been looking at, but at university i have seen dozens of laptops of all kinds that have functioned correctly (sleep and hibernate)

    Hell i put ubuntu on a dell laptop and it worked perfectly ....
     
  11. specofdust

    specofdust Banned

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    The term "available" has to be used very loosely. Very few shops have them in, and those that do are all charging Ebay prices (i.e. - £50 more than it's worth). Given that Asus is selling every one of these things that it's making, I'm sure they're not worried about having to correct this mistake, or even about not correcting it and just dealing with the lawsuit.
     
  12. The_Beast

    The_Beast I like wood ಠ_ಠ

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    I want one, I really don't care as long as I connect to the Internet and open Word documents I'm just fine with it
     
  13. Techno-Dann

    Techno-Dann Disgruntled kumquat

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    Issue resolved: ASUS released the source for the module. Engadget has a few details, along with a link to the downloads.
     
    Last edited: 27 Nov 2007
  14. Tyinsar

    Tyinsar 6 screens 1 card since Nov 17 2007

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    Thank you Asus.
     
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