Nothing like the Freetards (as coined by Fake Steve Jobs) to turn on a device that could popularize linux-based computing more than anyone could have guessed.

”Members of the Linux community have complained that the hot new sub-notebook from Asus, the eeePC, may have violated the spirit of the Linux General Public License. Some Linux advocates claim the eeePC has not included required source code with the installed Xandros Linux distribution and does not easily enable users to install another distro. However, there are indications that eeePC fans probably don’t care.”

(Via Asus eeePC Violates GPL Say Linux Stalwarts.)

This is why linux remains a hacker’s paradise and scares the masses away.

Most consumers will call tech support long before they delve into the bowels of the anything called source code, nor care about the utopian philosophical inspiration behind GPL.

Contact the company discreetly, resolve the issue through a future software update and help them ship a successful linux device to consumers, without scaring the bejeezus out of everyone.

What do you want? A soap box or market penetration?

By the way, how does it feel to eat your young?