I know that you can charge what ever you want for Linux and that the per unit price might be x dollars, but my gripe is that the New York Times article makes it

I know that you can charge what ever you want for Linux and that the per unit price might be x dollars, but my gripe is that the New York Times article makes it sound like The Linux Company sets the price at $3/copy without any kind of explanation. You would think that they would give some background info on Linux, explaining why, as open source, it is fundamentally different (e.g. no single company controls it)and can affect the netbook pricing in this way.