No Windows 8 Plot To Lock Out Linux 548
First time accepted submitter Bucky24 writes "ZDNet's Ed Bott decided to contact major PC makers to find out the truth about Windows 8 SecureBoot. The responses are encouraging for those of us who run third party operating systems. Dell plans to have a BIOS switch to allow SecureBoot to be disabled, and HP assures us that they will allow consumers to make their own choice as to what operating system to run, though they have not given details as to how."
Disabling secureboot implys a Non-Win OS is risky (Score:3, Interesting)
The requirement to disable Secureboot in order to run a non-Windows OS will imply that the other OS is less secure. Just another way for M$ to try and make the hardware pseudo-proprietary. This is not much different than the 'Windows Key'. Ask yourself, Is this an attempt to incorrectly solve a problem that doesn't exist or just another FUD tactic from a behemoth corporation?
Re:Ed Bott (Score:5, Interesting)
When they do it by including undocumented workarounds for a known standard, yes it certainly is evil. And in the case of ACPI, it didn't just affect people that wanted to have pure code, it also affected all the other projects that depended upon the code being implemented to standards. It took years to sort that out and ultimately, just served to benefit MS.
Had MS actually implemented the standard that everybody else was using, the one that Intel provided a validator for, it wouldn't have been an issue.
Re:No, that's not a solution (Score:3, Interesting)
I get the feeling that, come your next server RFP, your HP and Dell sales reps are going to ask you which secure boot version you want - Windows, ESXi, RedHat, or SuSE (maybe, but only because Intel has a hard-on for it as their own preferred server distro). You really won't have any other alternative.
I doubt it, there are too many businesses that need to be able to run whatever they want on their servers. Right now businesses want more flexibility, not less.
What you can bet on, though, is that you will never be allowed to use any of those servers to play movies, music, or video games. The split between "consumer" systems and "enterprise" systems is going to be enforced with secure boot. Consumers will not be able to install their own OSes, or if they do disable or modify secure boot, they will permanently lose the ability to run movie or music playing software. My system has an option to disable the TPM...but once disabled, it can never be reenabled, and there is no reason to think that the new boot process will be any different.
Hackers enjoyed a 30 year victory period, where PCs were available to all and controlled by their users. That period appears to be ending, with the same entrenched media interests reasserting their control. At the end of the day, the secure boot process is about marketing PCs as media consumption platforms. You cannot run whatever software you please on your cable TV box or satellite receiver, nor can you run any software you please on your DVD/Bluray player, nor on your video game consoles. The goal is for your PC to act as a replacement for all of that, and the loss of control is a key step in that process.
Re:Wow, quite the article... (Score:3, Interesting)