Linked by Thom Holwerda on Wed 21st Sep 2011 22:06 UTC, submitted by kragil
After the walled garden coming to the desktop operating system world, we're currently witnessing another potential nail in the coffin of the relatively open world of desktop and laptop computing. Microsoft has revealed [.pptx] that as part of its Windows 8 logo program, OEMs must implement UEFI secure boot. This could potentially complicate the installation of other operating systems, like Windows 7, XP, and Linux.
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RE[2]: Comment from a dumb user
by UglyKidBill on Thu 22nd Sep 2011 07:55
in reply to "RE: Comment from a dumb user"
Member since:2005-07-27
>>>"They have locked bootloaders that don't permit any firmware not signed by Motorola to be installed. Is this approximately what Microsoft is looking to do now?"
Microsoft already does this with win vista/7 kernels. The owner is not free to install independent drivers without buying a one or two year signing key. It seems to be a deliberate attack against OSS in the windows kernel. Just after I was beginning to learn how to write kernel drivers, microsoft banned us from installing our own drivers on our own computers. They've hard-coded private keys.
"Looks like this 'walled garden' concept has nothing to OS security, but rather with vendor security."
Technically, it has alot more to do with bootloader security than OS security, windows will have the same flaws as before.
It prevents unauthorized bootloaders from running. [...]
So, if I may speculate, this is about extending the kernel driver enforcement all the way back to the bootloader so that kernel jailbreaking software like this cannot work:
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/Video-Tweak/Driver-Signature-Enf...
Microsoft already does this with win vista/7 kernels. The owner is not free to install independent drivers without buying a one or two year signing key. It seems to be a deliberate attack against OSS in the windows kernel. Just after I was beginning to learn how to write kernel drivers, microsoft banned us from installing our own drivers on our own computers. They've hard-coded private keys.
"Looks like this 'walled garden' concept has nothing to OS security, but rather with vendor security."
Technically, it has alot more to do with bootloader security than OS security, windows will have the same flaws as before.
It prevents unauthorized bootloaders from running. [...]
So, if I may speculate, this is about extending the kernel driver enforcement all the way back to the bootloader so that kernel jailbreaking software like this cannot work:
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/Video-Tweak/Driver-Signature-Enf...
Maybe it will break those loaders used to bypass windows activation schemes? That alone would be of great benefit for microsoft, specially in the bottom server side of the market...
RE[2]: Comment from a dumb user
by Soulbender on Thu 22nd Sep 2011 17:00
in reply to "RE: Comment from a dumb user"
Member since:2005-08-18
The owner is not free to install independent drivers without buying a one or two year signing key
Wait...WHAT? Are you saying that I, the owner of the OS copy and the owner of the physical hardware, can not install whatever drivers I want? On my own hardware? For real? What in the holy hell? Oceania and The Party has nothing on Microsoft....
RE[3]: Comment from a dumb user
by Alfman on Thu 22nd Sep 2011 20:06
in reply to "RE[2]: Comment from a dumb user"
Member since:2011-01-28
Soulbender,
"Wait...WHAT? Are you saying that I, the owner of the OS copy and the owner of the physical hardware, can not install whatever drivers I want? On my own hardware? For real? What in the holy hell? Oceania and The Party has nothing on Microsoft...."
Yep.
http://www.ditii.com/2007/02/10/disabling-mandatory-kernel-mode-and...
I provided this next link earlier, which automatically switches the vista/7 kernels to a test mode that does not enforce software signatures. However this mode forcefully disables all access to DRM restricted APIs/hardware.
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/Video-Tweak/Driver-Signature-Enf...
There have been other ways to jailbreak the windows vista/7 kernels over the years, some involving privilege escalation, leaked keys, bootloader modifications. None of these were long term solutions, because microsoft continually disabled them (and our drivers cease to load).
Some open source supporters even purchased their own driver signing keys and created a tool that allows OSS users to load drivers as they please, their key was promptly blacklisted by microsoft, despite the fact that the tool was not malware and worked exactly as advertised.
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/security/vista-kernel-tampering-tool-rele...
News
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/22/13 13:38 UTC
"The Verge has learned that HTC's Chief Product Officer, Kouji Kodera, left the company last week. Kodera was responsible for HTC's overall product strategy, which makes the departure especially notable on the heels of the global launch of the make-or-break One. It's not just Kodera. In the past three-odd months, HTC has lost a number of employees in rapid succession." I really hope HTC pulls it together.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/22/13 13:30 UTC, submitted by JRepin
"It is with huge pleasure that the Debian GNU/Hurd team announces the release of Debian GNU/Hurd 2013. This is a snapshot of Debian 'sid' at the time of the Debian 'wheezy' release (May 2013), so it is mostly based on the same sources. It is not an official Debian release, but it is an official Debian GNU/Hurd port release." Important note: 75% of Debian packages are supported bu Debian GNU/Hurd. Impressive.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/21/13 22:06 UTC
"The first killer app was VisiCalc. This early spreadsheet turned the Apple II from a hobbyist toy to a business computer. VisiCalc came with room for improvement, though. In addition, a new architecture and operating system, the Intel-based IBM PC and MS-DOS, also needed a spreadsheet to be taken seriously. That spreadsheet, released in early 1983, would be Lotus 1-2-3, and it would change the world. It became the PC's killer app, and the world would never be the same. On May 14, IBM quietly announced the end of the road for 1-2-3, along with Lotus Organizer and the Lotus SmartSuite office suite. Lotus 1-2-3's day is done." Impressive 30 year run.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/21/13 21:45 UTC
"There's a disconnect between how Apple CEO Tim Cook sees his company's tax strategies and how some members of the US Senate view it. That became clearer than ever today after Cook and two other Apple executives testified before Congress, explaining why they're holding most of their international income in Irish subsidiaries like Apple Operations International, which declare no tax residency anywhere in the world. AOI hasn't filed a tax return anywhere in the world for the last five years, yet it earned $30 billion in income from 2009 to 2012, according to a Senate report released yesterday." Just because something is legal, doesn't mean it's just. Apple, Google, Microsoft, and many more - these companies might not be breaking any laws, but it's obvious to anyone that what they are doing is scummy.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/21/13 15:53 UTC
The new WebKit Opera for Android has been released. "Opera 14 for Android is built on top of Chromium 26, with a total overhaul of the UI in native code, making it fit well with the latest Android design guidelines. Go get the build from Google Play or point your browser to m.opera.com, and give it a spin!"
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/20/13 22:43 UTC
The Verge pointed me to a blog post by Leap Motion - which reveals how their Kinect-like motion control works with Windows 8. "From the second you plug in your Leap Motion Controller, you'll be able to browse the web and interact with your computer just by moving your hands and fingers in the air. With Leap Motion technology and Windows, you can do everything that's possible with multi-touch inputs - without actually touching anything. This also means that existing applications in Windows 7 and 8 will respond to your natural hand and finger movements. Soon, we'll show you how Leap Motion will work with Mac OS X." Quite cool.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/20/13 21:50 UTC
PocketNow interviews Marc Dillon, and there's an interesting note about why Jolla is keeping the display properties under wraps: "We're leaving some of those details out because we do understand that there are a lot of really big players in the market and they tend to take certain components in the market and dominate them. We created the ability to actually be able to run Sailfish on multiple hardware displays and be able to swap components, so this is part of the demand and supply planning phase. We are committed to this industrial design which is a 4.5-inch display, an 8 megapixel camera on the back and a front-facing camera at the front, and the exact specs of the display we'll provide when we're close to delivery." Something you rarely hear anything about.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/19/13 23:15 UTC
"This is my NeXTstation Turbo Color booting the Mac System 7.1 Operating System using a hardware add-on called 'Daydream'. The Daydream has a Mac ROM and a few custom ICs in it and hooked up to the NeXTs DSP port. Turns your NeXT into a full fledged 68k powered Mac." So cool.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/19/13 23:11 UTC, submitted by Drumhellar
"The NetBSD Project is pleased to announce NetBSD 6.1, the first feature update of the NetBSD 6 release branch. It represents a selected subset of fixes deemed important for security or stability reasons, as well as new features and enhancements. Please note that all fixes in the prior security/bugfix updates (NetBSD 6.0.1 and 6.0.2) are also in 6.1."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/18/13 21:06 UTC
"At the end of a week in which Electronic Arts confirmed it wasn't developing a thing for the Wii U, one of the software engineers in EA Sports' Canada studio, in a series of since-deleted tweets, disparaged the console as 'crap' and suggested Nintendo should give up on hardware altogether. 'The Wii U is crap. Less powerful than an Xbox 360. Poor online/store. Weird tablet', tweeted Bob Summerwill, listed as a senior software engineer at EA Canada, in a reply to a tweet posting a link about EA's no-Wii U news. 'Nintendo are walking dead at this point'." The Wii U is turning into the 21st century's Virtual Boy.More News »
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Member since:
2011-01-28
"They have locked bootloaders that don't permit any firmware not signed by Motorola to be installed. Is this approximately what Microsoft is looking to do now?"
Microsoft already does this with win vista/7 kernels. The owner is not free to install independent drivers without buying a one or two year signing key. It seems to be a deliberate attack against OSS in the windows kernel. Just after I was beginning to learn how to write kernel drivers, microsoft banned us from installing our own drivers on our own computers. They've hard-coded private keys.
"Looks like this 'walled garden' concept has nothing to OS security, but rather with vendor security."
Technically, it has alot more to do with bootloader security than OS security, windows will have the same flaws as before.
It prevents unauthorized bootloaders from running. However in the context of a real attack, the installation of a malicious bootloader that secure boot would help protect against suggests that the system has already been compromised elsewhere. So secure boot would be of limited security value here.
They actually tried something similar before with TCM/Palladium, which may provide insight into what they are trying to accomplish... DRM.
As much as MS might want to block out linux, I cannot imagine any scenario where microsoft would not face serious legal repercussions if they tried. So, if I may speculate, this is about extending the kernel driver enforcement all the way back to the bootloader so that kernel jailbreaking software like this cannot work:
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/Video-Tweak/Driver-Signature-Enf...