Linus Torvalds chimes in on Windows 8 and UEFI

Source.

Originally Posted by Neowin

Windows 8 will be released with what Microsoft is calling its Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI). The system is designed to be an extra security measure but some people have complained that having UEFI installed also means that being able to dual-boot to another OS on the same PC, such as Linux, would be harder. A Linux OS provider, Red Hat, announced last week that it has a solution to this issue, saying, "Microsoft will provide keys for Windows and Red Hat will provide keys for Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Fedora. Similarly other distributions can participate at a nominal cost of $99 USD - allowing them to register their own keys for distribution to system firmware vendors." Some Linux users don't like this idea, but ZDNet.com reports that Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux, sees this plan as a good compromise, saying, "I’m certainly not a huge UEFI fan, but at the same time I see why you might want to have signed bootup etc. And if it’s only $99 to get a key for Fedora, I don’t see what the huge deal is.”

Read more: http://www.neowin.net/news/linus-tor...ows-8-and-uefi

[Daveski17]

"And if it’s only $99 to get a key for Fedora, I don’t see what the huge deal is."

Blimey, that's nearly 64 quid!

[Hungry Man]

https://lwn.net/SubscriberLink/500231/0161d1d4b4b14c1a/

It's a security feature. That's great, it prevents a class of rootkits that are a pain in the ass. I'm happy for it.

There's no getting around the fact that it's raising the bar for users to install the OS or forcing developers to pay money.

99 dollars is nothing for Fedora. It might be for someone else who wants to create a distro and considering how many distros are home grown that's a big deal.

Also worth noting is that a single hole in the kernel is a hole in the system, which allows an attacker to get to Windows via Linux. That's grounds for certificate revocation. Not exactly ideal as VeriSign may hold the keys but MS can withdraw that key any time it likes.

As Linus says in his original post, it's a great system for security but it can easily be abused.

[sukarof]

As I understand it (plz correct me if Im wrong) all you have to do is to see that "secure boot" is turned off in "BIOS" (UEFI) and there is no problem installing any linux distro.
The problem occurs if windows 8 wont install or boot unless the "secure boot" is turned on as I see it. But maybe that is the case and why people are upset?
But even so, surely you can turn "secure boot" off any time you want to boot into or install linux? Its a bit annoying to have to do all that of course, but it is an option, right? At least for us who build our own computers, I guess OEM versions may (or not?) turn off the option to turn "secure boot" on and off?
Personally I dont care until the day I have to install Windows 8 to play the latest games or use some gadget, software whatever that I "must" have

[funkydude]

Originally Posted by sukarof

The problem occurs if windows 8 wont install or boot unless the "secure boot" is turned on as I see it. But maybe that is the case and why people are upset?

No it isn't the case, that would be a seriously dumb business move by Microsoft considering the tiny percentage of people that actually have a UEFI board.