If Linux is the destination of the computing highway, the EeePC is not the onramp

Asus, who makes the hugely popular EeePC, has just released an edition with an 8.9 inch screen.

Oh, and no Linux.

In Australia, the 8.9 inch edition will be available in department stores, retail chains, and specialist computer stores. The problem is, unlike with the 7 inch edition, this will only be available with Windows if you buy from any retail chain.

Most people who go and buy an EeePC will go to a Myer or Retravision or Harvey's, and therefore automatically get the Windows XP version. This will definitely deprive everyday people from experiencing Linux. It will also have the knock-on effect of increasing virus transmission and damaging the good reputation these machines have due to lower battery life with Windows.

Who will go to a specialist computer store to buy an Eee? "Enthusiasts" and "Tech-savvy" people. I know I shouldn't really complain as at least we still have the option of buying Linux preinstalled, but this now touches on one of my pet hates. The self-fulfilling prophecy of "Only geeks use Linux".

If you want to install an ATI or Nvidia graphics card driver, those hardware vendors expect you to manually install kernel headers, go into the terminal and put in commands to install the drivers. If you want to install Flash Player, Adobe expects you to go into the terminal and type a manual path to your Firefox installation. There's a mentality of "We don't need to make our software easy to install on Linux, because only geeks use Linux, and the geeks won't be intimidated by our installer". It's a self-fulfilling prophecy because if an everyday person tries to install those drivers, they can quickly get frustrated and give up with Linux.

Thankfully, the distributions tend to have systems to make it easy to install those drivers. Restricted Drivers Manager, Envy, binary repositories; if the distributions can write easy installers for those binary drivers, why won't the vendors themselves?

In the same token, if you make your Linux-based laptop readily available only for geeks, then only geeks will buy it. It's also outrageous that the Windows XP version of the 8.9 inch Eee is $50 cheaper than the Linux one!

I was also seriously pissed off at the Asus notebook product manager, Albert Liang. He described the Windows XP version as the "mainstream edition", which IMHO is a direct undermining of the tireless efforts of Linux-based developers to make an excellent and user-friendly Linux desktop. Once again, self-fulfilling prophecy: Linux will never be "mainstream" because we keep saying that it's not. I feel like Liang's statement is a personal attack: I wrote some easy-to-use software that transcodes video for the Sony Walkman, so I guess I'm working to make Linux as user-friendly and mainstream-appealing as possible.

Linux adoption won't increase at a greater rate than before unless something else comes along. Asus' actions have shown that we can't pin our hopes of widespread Linux adoption on the EeePC. If Linux is the destination of the computing highway, the EeePC is no longer the onramp.