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Asus Corrects Eee PC Source Code Issue

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the learning-from-mistakes dept.

ozmanjusri writes "Asus has corrected the availability of source code for its Eee PC, and reaffirmed its commitment to meeting the requirements of open source licenses, including the GPL. They also announced the upcoming release of a new SDK to assist the Open Source community development on the Eee PC."

6 of 157 comments (clear)

  1. Better late than never by RandoX · · Score: 5, Funny

    "The code released by Asus brings the company into compliance with its obligations under the GPL and should satisfy most of the critics."

    And those critics that aren't satisfied by that will all be regulars here at /.

  2. ASUS: Brilliant Marketing Strategy by multipartmixed · · Score: 5, Insightful

    1. Release geek-oriented product nobody's ever heard of
    2. Make it very obvious it's based on GNU/Linux
    3. "Accidentally" screw up the GPL code release
    4. Wait for Slashdot Story
    5. Fix GPL code release
    6. Trigger Slashdot follow-up story
    5. Free advertising sells lots of product
    6. Profit!

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    1. Re:ASUS: Brilliant Marketing Strategy by slyn · · Score: 5, Funny

      123456....56

      wjat?

  3. Impatient, Are We? by Tenshigure · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The EeePC has only been available publicly for a few weeks now. It was purely speculation that they were willingly holding back the code for asus_acpi and the other crap, and now they've corrected that mistake. Those 'critics' need to calm down sometimes, not every large corporation out there is trying to destroy the 'sanctity of GPL' at every opportunity.

  4. As a company that "Sells" Open source... by houstonbofh · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I work for a company that provides Open Source solutions. We are actively involved in several FOSS projects, and support the concept any way we can. That said, with the rapid advances of the base projects, and our changes to those projects, it is very easy to let publishing the source slip down the priority list. I have forgotten several times, and this has been on projects I develop for! (I fix it as soon as I realize...) I would bet many omissions can be attributed to overwork, and not malice.

  5. Re:They need to do more than calm down by Hatta · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The point is, the GPL is not about extracting damages from people. It's not even about forcing people to give us their code. It's about ensuring code that is free remains free. If companies see GPL software as a legal trap where a simple mistake could leave them liable for thousand of dollars in fines, they're just going to avoid it completely. Which would kind of negate the entire purpose of sharing free software. Remember, the GPL is a means to an end, not an end in itself.

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