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Feel free to pick another example. I'll take your word that Sony's laptop group won't do this, but the parent corporation has demonstrated their willingness to harm Sony customers. All it would take is a new head for that division.

The point remains: Microsoft is leaving the door open for OEMs to handle secure booting in ways that could harm Windows users as well as Linux users. Some OEM will do so. It doesn't matter whether it's Sony or someone else. Microsoft isn't going to listen to Linux users. They might listen to Windows users. Help me convince Windows users that they should be concerned about the way this UEFI feature is implemented. By the way, it is a useful feature, but only if it's done right.

I'm tired of short-sighted people saying that they don't care about some issue because it doesn't affect them. Yes it does. Don't tell me that you don't care about Firefox because you use IE. The only reason IE exists is because Netscape existed. Once Netscape ceased to be a threat, IE stagnated. As soon as Firefox came about, IE resumed improving. You don't need to use something to benefit from its existence.

If the stupidity of OEMs allows Microsoft to gain an effective lock-in on some hardware, that hurts everyone. It hurts people who buy non-crippled hardware, because they have fewer choices. It hurts Windows users because it gives Microsoft one more reason to ignore Windows users; if your hardware only runs Windows, why should Microsoft listen to you? You're stuck running Windows no matter how they treat you.