The Raspberry Pi foundation issued a statement today with a status update on their much-anticipated $35 Linux computer. The first 2,000 completed units have arrived in the UK, but the devices aren't ready to be shipped out yet because the foundation's retail partners won't distribute them to purchasers until they have been stamped with the CE marking.

The CE marking, which you can find on many consumer electronics products, certifies that a product conforms with the regulatory standards of the European Economic Area. In order to apply the CE marking to a product, it has to undergo a conformity assessment and the manufacturer has to produce certain documents.

The Raspberry Pi foundation wasn't previously aware that it needed the CE marking in order to distribute its computer. Because the Raspberry Pi computer is a bare board and not a finished end product, the foundation assumed that it was exempt from the requirements. Similar products, such as the BeagleBoard, are legally distributed without the marking. Although the foundation still believes that the CE mark isn't strictly necessary, they are pursuing the necessary compliance assessment in order to address the concerns of their retail partners.

"The good news is that our first 2,000 boards arrived in the UK on Monday and that we are working to get them CE marked as soon as is humanly possible, in parallel with bringing the remainder of our initial batch into the country," the foundation said in a blog post. "We’re also talking to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), to better understand the terms under which devices like Beagleboard are permitted to ship to domestic end users in the UK, and to obtain a definitive statement as to whether we can distribute on the same terms."

According to the foundation, the exact delivery dates won't be locked in until either the testing is complete or the BIS steps in and supplies a statement that satisfies the foundation's retail partners. This could potentially result in further delays in delivery.

The Raspberry Pi computer is a small $35 Linux board with a 700MHz ARM11 CPU and 256MB of RAM. The product was originally created to provide students with a low-cost computer on which to learn computer programming, but it has attracted the interest of Linux users and embedded computing enthusiasts. The foundation's retail partners were overwhelmed by the demand when they began accepting pre-orders earlier this month.

The project has endured a number of minor setbacks due to technical and manufacturing difficulties, but it is still on track to launch this year. The project's high level of transparency has offered a unique glimpse into the manufacturing process and what goes on behind the scenes of product development.