Windows 8 secure boot would 'exclude' Linux

Well here is the next step in Bill Gates world domination bid.

Windows 8 secure boot would 'exclude' Linux
Microsoft wants firmware to only start authorized OSes

Computer scientists warn that proposed changes in firmware specifications may make it impossible to run “unauthorized” operating systems such as Linux and FreeBSD on PCs. Proposed changes to the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) firmware specifications would mean PCs would only boot from a digitally signed image derived from a key-chain rooted in keys built into the PC. Microsoft is pushing to make this mandatory in a move that could not be overridden by users and would effectively exclude alternative operating systems, according to Professor Ross Anderson of Cambridge University and other observers. UEFI is a successor to the BIOS ROM firmware designed to shorten boot times and improve security. The framework, a key part of Windows 8, is designed to work on a variety of CPU architectures. If the draft for UEFI is adopted without modification, then any system that ships with only OEM and Microsoft keys will not boot a generic copy of Linux. A signed version of Linux would work, but this poses problems, as tech blogger Matthew Garrett explains.

Source Article

Microsoft’s OS monopoly being extended to hardware will be a absolute disaster to freedom of choice, and real computer users. I personally love my Linux, and Sun OS's.

reply to post by barkingdogamato


except bill gates doesn't make these decisions anymore

good job trying to slander the name of someone far greater than you though

no idea how I double posted, didnt even click twice

To be honest, the kind of people that run those operating systems don't buy PC's off the shelf.

This won't affect your average geek, we build our own

Don't worry, there would be a software/hardware crack made.

Either that or we likely would see another Anti-Trust Lawsuit filed on M$.

M.

From my understanding the new BIOS replacement (UEFI) will have the option to enable 'secure boot' or not. Windows wants OEMs to ship boxes with Windows 8 with secure boot enabled. When secure boot is enabled then something like a Linux dual boot wouldn't be possible and things as simple as a video card upgrade may be a lot more bothersome to complete.

What the OEM can choose to do is allow the secure boot to be disabled. In that case even if you buy a machine with Win8 and secure boot enabled, you can go in and disable that feature. Of course no one will know which manufacturers will allow this. When the time comes, I will certainly be making sure any computer I purchase comes from a manufacturer that will allow this to be disabled.

reply to post by SpongeBeard


Far greater ROFL!

Didn't Gates buy the MSDOS OS from two guys at Berkley with $150k his daddy lent him and then flip it to IBM while retaining the rights to modify and sell it himself to third parties? Yeah, he did a lot LOL! Geez, I remember this from back in the early 80's, has history been rewritten again?

Cheers - Dave