After Fedora, Ubuntu has now also announced how it's going to handle the nonsense called "Secure" Boot. The gist: they'll use the same key as Fedora, but they claim they can't use GRUB2. "In the event that a manufacturer makes a mistake and delivers a locked-down system with a GRUB 2 image signed by the Ubuntu key, we have not been able to find legal guidance that we wouldn't then be required by the terms of the GPLv3 to disclose our private key in order that users can install a modified boot loader. At that point our certificates would of course be revoked and everyone would end up worse off." So, they're going to use the more liberally licensed efilinux loader from Intel. Only the bootloader will be signed; the kernel will not.
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Member since:2007-08-20
I'm certainly not an expert in this, but from what I've seen, I agree. (In fact, I half wonder why Fedora isn't going the same route.)
This whole "Secure Boot" thing has me upset at Microsoft to a degree I haven't been for several years. The x86/x64 situation is bad enough, but the ARM (WinRT) situation really burns me up.
Member since:2005-10-17
Member since:2011-01-28
Lazarus,
"The only thing that would be better IMO is for the option for disabling EFI secure boot be mandatory and not be to terribly different from vendor to vendor."
Please please please don't forget about allowing us to control the keys in our own hardware. I don't think it's acceptable *just* to be able to disable secure boot in UEFI, it should be mandatory that owners can choose to enable secure boot for any operating system that supports it.
Unfortunately the path we are now on seems to be headed in the direction where microsoft, having it's keys embedded in all consumer machines, will become the defacto secure boot gatekeeper and secure boot enabled alternative operating systems have no choice but to become subordinates within microsoft's chain of trust. We already see it beginning.
To top it all off, secure boot is even less secure now because owners don't know who's code is running under microsoft's keys. It's very likely that malware will eventually get a key under MS's $100/year program. Sure, widespread worms will have their keys revoked after the fact. But narrowly targeted attacks are likely to remain undetected because the owners are kept entirely out of the loop, we're never informed by secure boot that something bad is afoot with our boot chain - secure boot my ass!
Being able to disable it is important, but I'm disappointed this crap security standard got adopted in the first place.
Member since:2005-08-18
In all fairness, being able to disable (in)secure boot is a requirement for the Windows 8 certified/logo thingy on x86. Somewhat ironic that if you want to make sure you can run a non-MS OS you should get hardware that is certified for Windows 8.
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The day has finally come! Jolla has finally announced the launch device for its Sailfish operating system - and by god this is a looker. It's decidedly different from other phones out there, but it has good specifications and carries a relatively reasonably price tag - EUR 399, and it's up for pre-order today, shipping in the fourth quarter of this year.
Why does Google get so much credit in the technology industry? Why, despite the company's many obvious failings, do many geeks and enthusiasts still hold a somewhat positive view on the all-knowing technology giant? A specific talk at Google I/O this week provides the answer.
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"Windows is indeed slower than other operating systems in many scenarios, and the gap is worsening." That's one way to start an insider explanation of why Windows' performance isn't up to snuff. Written by someone who actually contributes code to the Windows NT kernel, the comment on Hacker News, later deleted but reposted with permission on Marc Bevand's blog, paints a very dreary picture of the state of Windows development. The root issue? Think of how Linux is developed, and you'll know the answer.
This is one of those news items that's fun to write, fun to read, fun to comment on, and where no one will be able to say anything unkind. It's all just one big ball of awesome fluffiness. TuneTracker, the BeOS radio automation software, has just released something very special: TuneTracker System 5, the first version designed entirely and specifically for Haiku. In fact, it actually includes Haiku in the software package. Better yet, TuneTracker also unveiled several system-in-a-box products - which have Haiku and TuneTracker pre-installed.
Exactly twenty years ago, a document was published that played a huge role in establishing the web as we know it today. Twenty years later, and this simple and straightforward document is proof of an irrefutable fact: while closed technologies can change markets, open technologies can change the world.Oh multitasking. That staple of computing that got thrown out the window with many modern smartphones. We got some rudimentary thing in its place - but even as multitasking on phone and tablets improves, its user-visible side remains cumbersome. Windows 8 has a neat implementation, and now it's time Android follows in it footsteps.They're here! Whether that excites you or not remains to be seen, but the Galaxy S4, which will most likely become the best selling Android smartphone of the year by a huge margin, has been reviewed by all the major sites, and there's lots of interesting conclusions in there - although I think most of you will get the gist.Nokia has posted its quarterly results for the first quarter of 2013, and just like the quarters that came before, there's not a whole lot of good news in there. The rise in Lumia sales still can't even dream of making up for the sales drop in Symbian phones, and when broken down in versions, the sales figures for Windows Phone 8 Lumias in particular are very disappointing. In North America, Nokia is getting slaughtered.
Member since:
2005-08-10
Of the various proposed solutions I've read about, this one seems to be the least evil. The only thing that would be better IMO is for the option for disabling EFI secure boot be mandatory and not be to terribly different from vendor to vendor. If only everyone making consumer hardware would just use the reference implementation and stop screwing around reinventing things =/