Posted on 07/17/2012 8:57:17 AM PDT by ShadowAce
The prospect of Windows 8's planned Secure Boot restrictions has caused no end of controversy in the Linux world, where distributors and users of the free and open source operating system have been struggling to figure out just what it's all going to mean for those who don't embrace Windows. The prospect of Windows 8's planned Secure Boot restrictions has caused no end of controversy in the Linux world, where distributors and users of the free and open source operating system have been struggling to figure out just what it's all going to mean for those who don't embrace Windows.
It wasn't long ago that the Free Software Foundation spoke out for a second time on the topic, but recently there have been signs that a broader effort is in the works in the Linux community.
“The purpose of this email is to widen the pool of people who are playing with UEFI Secure boot,” began a message late last month from James Bottomley, chair of the Linux Foundation's Technical Advisory Board.
Based on Intel's Tianocore
It turns out Bottomley has created a platform Linux developers can use to get around Secure Boot--specifically, a boot system based on Intel's Tianocore, which is an open source implementation of the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI).
The Intel Tianocore project just recently added the Secure Boot facility to its UEFI ROM images, he noted.
Also posted in a repository by Bottomley are a set of tools that can be used to sign EFI binaries, he said.
“The current state is that I've managed to lock down the Secure Boot virtual platform with my own PK and KEK and verified that I can generate signed EFI binaries that will run on it (and that it will refuse...
(Excerpt) Read more at pcworld.com ...
Microsoft would like nothing better than to lock out all other software from operating on PCs .Microsoft bullying marketing tactics put an end to PC makers’ customized intro screens and apps and killed off the competing PC-GEOS.
Not that Apple’s strangle hold on hardware and software approval is any better.
A pox on companies that try to lock the customer into only those companies goods by coercion not value and performance.
Will Windows 8 PCs Shut the Door on Linux?
It seems safe to say that a sizable proportion of Linux PC users in the world today installed the free and open source operating system on hardware that originally came loaded with Windows. After all, while there are preloaded systems available, it often ends up being cheaper to buy a Windows PC and load Linux yourself.
Once Windows 8 starts shipping on PCs, however, that may no longer be possible. It turns out that a new feature included in the operating system in the name of security may also effectively make it impossible to load Linux on officially Windows 8-certified hardware.
“It’s probably not worth panicking yet,” wrote Red Hat developer Matthew Garrett in a Tuesday blog post on the topic. “But it is worth being concerned.”
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/240347/will_windows_8_pcs_shut_the_door_on_linux.html
This makes me SICK, and I’m hoping that the technical higher-ups in companies such as Intel and AMD are paying attention. I have a friend who works for ASUS International who’s said that many computer engineers are discussing this as a takeover of the microprocessor and chipmaking processes by MS.
If this continues unabated, it would behoove any nascent manufacturers and engineering companies to develop UEFI chipsets specifically targeted at Linux and the open source communities.
I’ve already taken steps to ensure that my family is comfortable in a GUI Linux environment, because I refuse to continue feeding the beast that is MS and will not pay the outrageous prices for an Apple machine when I can install and functionally use most Linux distros on a 5-10 year old PC.
Windows 7 might be the last MS OS I use if they’re going to start with this proprietary chipset BS.
I’m would think MS will somewhat relent on this and provide some kind of solution. If not, the Linux community is a lot more intelligent than the MS community, and they will find a way around this.
My very large computer company is now starting to refresh its laptops with Linux laptops. We can still run Window applications by using a Windows shell program, but Linux applications will eventually replace most of those.
I imagine the cost savings doing this are huge!
W2K was the last I installed on a PC. Been on Fedora ever since 2003.
Exactly my thoughts on it as well.
Being a Steam fanatic, I've been following Valve's Linux development, and it appears that just today they announced that they're working on Steam for Linux.
In my opinion, Linux is the way of the future. Microsoft is trying too hard and starting to falter where Apple excels. They need to focus on their home desktop and business enterprise software and stop with this gamesmanship garbage. There are a LOT of things they're exceptionally good at, and they should stick with that stuff.
A pox on companies politicians that try to lock the customer into only those companies goods health care plans by coercion not value and performance.
I’m a corporate IT consultant and we will NOT move our clients to windows 8. It’s the biggest piece of crap since, well ever. I thought win98 was a big pile but MS succeeded in pulling a bigger piece of junk out of their collective #$%&. We are stopping at win7 until MS realizes their mistake though I’m not holding my breath.
Since you advertize yourself as an IT professional, and I am an engineer with no fear of numbers, please give me the “numbers” version of why I shouldn’t move from Win7 to Win8 on my home computer. Words like “crap” and “junk” do not enlighten anyone.
Thank you.
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