Linked by Thom Holwerda on Fri 22nd Jun 2012 23:17 UTC
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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RE[6]: Comment by Lazarus
by mjg59 on Sat 23rd Jun 2012 04:20
in reply to "RE[5]: Comment by Lazarus"
Member since:2005-10-17
RE[7]: Comment by Lazarus
by Alfman on Sat 23rd Jun 2012 05:38
in reply to "RE[6]: Comment by Lazarus"
Member since:2011-01-28
mjg59,
"Microsoft require that all x86 systems permit the user to modify the keys. They forbid that on ARM, so we won't be supporting secure boot on ARM."
Well that's great to hear that the keys can be overridden and not just disabled! Your earlier statement makes more sense to me now.
Features
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/21/13 21:38 UTC
At an event earlier today, Microsoft unveiled the next Xbox - the third model, but confusingly named Xbox One. The big focus was TV, integrated Kinect, and all the other stuff we all expected to be forced down our throats. I think it took them 25 minutes to actually come to what should be the core of the story: gaming. Nothing groundbreaking in the gaming department, except for how Microsoft intends to handle the used games market and borrowing games from friends: pay up, buddy!
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/20/13 11:29 UTC
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Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/18/13 21:33 UTC
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OSNews is a sponsor of this year's O'Reilly OSCON in Portland, Oregon, USA. A lucky OSNews reader will win a free three-day pass, including two tutorials days. To win the pass, post a comment on this story saying something about Open Source Software or OSCON. We'll pick a winner at random next week. If you don't have an OSNews account, you may email us your entry. Part of the conference is the 9th annual Open Source Awards, and today the 16th is the deadline for nominations. If you'd like to nominate an outstanding open source contributor, do it here. Read on for more information about OSCON. Update: The 20% discount code for OSNews readers is "OSN."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/11/13 21:41 UTC
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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.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/02/13 15:28 UTC
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.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/29/13 21:06 UTC
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.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/24/13 22:24 UTC
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.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/18/13 11:21 UTC
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.More Features »
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2011-01-28
mjg59,
"We'll be providing tools for users to install their own keys if they want to build their own kernels or use third party modules - it's vitally important to us that users be in control of their system, and we won't support any scenario where they're not."
Correct me if I'm wrong, but your stock kernel, which is to be validated under microsoft's chainloader, will reject 3rd party/end-user modules signed with user keys not approved by microsoft, right?
The only way for users to load/run their own modules would be for them to get their own keys approved by microsoft. If this user distributes code as "open source" to another user, they then face the same problem all over again. Each user who obtains the source code will loose the ability to compile & run it without permission from microsoft.
Your claiming that it's vitally important for users to be in control of their system, yet in my opinion this scenario doesn't permit that. It gives microsoft control. Can you help me understand your point of view better?
Edit:
I'm aware that you mention disabling secure boot or changing the keys in this link.
http://mjg59.dreamwidth.org/12368.html
But I'm talking about being able to use Fedora with secure boot enabled on a typical consumer system where the keys cannot be changed.
Edited 2012-06-23 04:05 UTC