Linux-käyttöjärjestelmien asentaminen Windows 8 -tietokoneisiin saattaa olla aiempaa hankalampaa. Taustalla on Designed for Windows 8 -sertifikaatti, jonka saamiseksi PC-valmistajien on käytettävä tietokoneissaan UEFI Secure Boot -ominaisuutta. Secure Boot estää käytännössä sellaisten ohjelmien latautumisen käynnistymisen yhteydessä, jotka eivät ole valtuutetun tahon hyväksymiä. Ominaisuus hankaloittaa avoimen lähdekoodin käyttöjärjestelmien asentamista, mutta se on mahdollista kiertää kytkemällä ominaisuus pois päältä UEFI:sta. Valmistajien on tosin mahdollistettava Secure Boot -ominaisuuden pois päältä kytkeminen.
Viime viikolla julkisuuteen ilmestyi tieto jonka mukaan Red Hat-yhtiö olisi hyväksymässä Microsoftin kaavailut. Sen sijaan että Red Hat olisi haastanut Microsoftin oikeuteen, yhtiö on valmis maksamaan Microsoftille jotta näihin Windows only-tietokoneisiin (UEFI) on mahdollisuus asentaa muitakin käyttöjärjestelmiä. Alkaako Microsoftin kiristys? Tämä päätöksen seuraukset voivat olla pahimmassa tapauksessa hyvinkin tuhoisat Linux-työasemille. Red Hatin linjavalinta on hämmästyttänyt Linux-yhteisöä. Microsoftilla on nyt "tuhannen taalan paikka" pelata Linux-distrot ulos kisasta.
Kommentteja asiasta:
http://www.linuxinsider.com/rsstory/75343.htmlKevin O'Brien:
"This certainly gives me a bit of concern because it puts Microsoft in the position of controlling the hardware and being a gatekeeper on what can be installed," O'Brien explained.
"IS there any evidence that they have ever had this kind of power and *not* used it to crush their competition?" O'Brien wondered. "I hope the anti-trust authorities look into this."
Robert Pogson:
"GNU/Linux was at a stage where complete newbies could install and boot. Soon GNU/Linux installers will be treated as malware. Great..."
Alessandro Ebersol:
"But it's bad when it legitimates the UEFI locked boot, so M$ can escape anti-trust prosecution," Ebersol asserted. "M$ is trying to pull off an Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), which locks its machines' boots. But then, Apple is a hardware maker, and M$ isn't."
At the end of the day, "I think this move from Red Hat does more harm than good, for the whole Linux ecosystem," he concluded. "It remains to be seen if this farcical nonsense from M$ (UEFI Locked Boot) will stick. I'm guessing it won't."
Vai onko kyse sittenkin vain
"salaliittoteoriasta"?
"Saying that someone who is 1) smart enough to know what Linux is and to install their own OS; 2) smart enough to find and download an ISO and to burn said ISO; is also 3) too stupid to flip a switch in BIOS seems to stretch the suspension of disbelief into insane conspiracy theory territory," hairyfeet opined.
"Then there is the fact that secure boot makes NO sense for a good 99 percent of the Linux distros out there, since it's tied to the kernel," hairyfeet went on. "As we all know, the Linux kernels get updated with more frequency than Snooki's wardrobe, so it would be completely pointless to even bother with it when it comes to Linux distros."
In fact, "the ONLY reason that it makes sense in the case of RHEL is the simple fact that, like most things built for enterprise markets, it's EXTREMELY conservative when it comes to updates, so frankly they stick with the old kernels a LOT longer than anybody else," hairyfeet concluded.
"The few companies that keep a kernel long enough to need or desire certification can get it," he added. "Everyone else can have a three-line how-to on their download page."
Chris Traver on asiasta huolissaan:
"I don't think we really know what the antitrust fallout for this is yet," began Chris Travers, a Slashdot blogger who works on the LedgerSMB project. "I would personally rather see Red Hat sue Microsoft than pay them.
"Microsoft is probably vulnerable here," he explained. "I would also be surprised if regulators in the US and Europe aren't watching Microsoft here deciding whether to pursue additional actions against them."
In short, "they are probably less vulnerable in the ARM (Nasdaq: ARMHY) space, but in the desktop space this is a big deal," Travers concluded.
Mitä sanoo kilpailulainsäädäntö asiasta?
