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Debian To Replace Xandros on the Eee PC?
Reading this week’s DistroWatch Weekly, I was surprised to see an interesting news story I had, apparently, completely missed. Normally, I try not to write about stories that are more than a couple of days old. But considering how many Linux news sources I read daily and considering I never saw this story, I have to assume that a large portion of you also missed this story, so I am making an exception.
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. While the end-user interface might be very similar, it seems highly likely that if the Debian project was involved, it might become much easier to install software and do other more complicated tasks, beyond what the current Eee PC’s software allows.
A change like this would, hopefully, make those who are trying to do anything beyond the most basic tasks with the Eee’s default software much happier, while not making the standard interface too complicated.
If the Eee PC does switch to Debian as it’s default OS, it would be a great step forward in making the Eee PC’s default software more attractive to a wider audience.
What Do Microsoft Patent Deal Mean for Linux UMPCs? Nothing.
A recent iTWire article suggests that when Xandros’s patent deal with Microsoft runs out in 2011, Microsoft will attempt to use their patent FUD to stop Linux’s adoption on UMPCs.
Quite a while ago, a number of companies, including Novell, Xandros, and many others, signed patent deals with Microsoft. These deals supposedly protect the company in question and its customers from being sued by Microsoft, which Microsoft claims they can do because Linux supposedly violates many of their patents. Largely due to Microsoft not revealing what those patents are, other companies, such as Red Hat, refused to sign patent deals. At the time, companies that did sign patent deals were viewed very poorly by the Linux community, since they were simply submitting to Microsoft FUD. Gradually, however, this issue has become less of a focal point and there is a lot less coverage of it.
In 2011, though, as pointed out by the iTWire article, this issue is likely to resurface, since Xandros’s patent deal will expire. Since the Linux used on the Eee PC will no longer be “protected,” the article also suggests that Microsoft will use this FUD opportunity to try to harm Linux on UMPCs. They may try, but I don’t think they will succeed.
As I see it, when the patent deal issue resurfaces, there will, of course, be a huge uproar from the Linux community and lots of pressure for companies not to sign the deals. In this situation, one of two things will probably happen:
- Microsoft will give up trying to push their FUD around patents onto companies.
- Some more patent deals will be signed or renewed and everything will move on again.
Though the later may not be preferable, neither option would seriously hurt Linux’s chances on UMPCs or Linux’s chances in general.