This message on the Debian Eee PC mailing list reveals that Asus and Debian are working together, or at least planning to, on software for the Eee PC. This, presumably, means that future versions of the Eee PC could run a modified version of Debian, rather than a modified version of Xandros, as they currently do.

The purpose of this essay is to illustrate by example the strengths and weaknesses of the open source development model versus the binary driver one.

Available at computer sellers from "late June", the Eee 901 will retail for $649 and the 701 and 900 have been reduced to $479 and $549, respectively. According to ASUS, the Linux and Windows versions are the same price.

"We have just been receiving a constant stream of questions from companies asking how the Linux kernel developers feel about closed-source modules over the past year or so,"

Businesses are not philanthropists. They are not, intentionally, educators or evangelists for ideologies. However, from time to time their business models just happen to coincide with their more idealistic customers own interests. Asus is one such company.

One of the biggest arguments used against Linux in grade school level education is that we aren't teaching kids to use the applications they'll use in the "real world". As the Technology Director for a K-12 school district, I've heard that argument many times. After all these years, I still don't buy it.

"Reddit just feels a true love for the open source community and feel they owe it to that community to be open."

As schools analyze alternatives to hefty licensing fees, LUGs and Linux-in-education organizations are pointing out that Open Source solutions are better suited to the educational environment, and are only a fraction of the cost.