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Linux beats Windows to Intel iMac

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the because-you-can dept.

Ctrl+Alt+De1337 writes "The Mactel-Linux folks have now successfully booted Linux on a 17" Core Duo iMac. They used the elilo bootloader, a modified kernel, and a hacked vesafb to boot from a USB drive. No GUI pictures for now, just white text on a black background. The distro of choice was Gentoo, and instructions and patches are promised this weekend."

15 of 537 comments (clear)

  1. Also, this proves once and for all... by daveschroeder · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ...that the TPM is not "preventing" alternate OSes from booting, as some conspiracy theorists have begun to suggest.

    1. Re:Also, this proves once and for all... by joe_plastic · · Score: 2, Interesting

      People keep repeating this and yes it's true you can emulate everything real easy, except for one tiny itsy-bitsy little thing -- The private key inside the chip. Remote attestation has been pretty much given a solid design. Platform Configuration Registers (PCRs), Attestation Identity Keys (AIKs), Endorsement Certs, RSA, SHA-1 are all part of the formula.

      Secure Platform Attestation with TPMs One frequent system attack involves making unauthorized changes to a platform's configuration. This allows misuse of the device and its contents as well as access to the networks to which the device is connected. In devices that use TPM chips, platform integrity is protected by secure storage of the platform configuration values and by secure reporting of the values. This enables attestation of the device by verifying that its configuration is intact. The mechanism is based on the chain of trust used in creating the hash values of the pre-boot information of the platform. It is common industry practice to check the integrity of a platform by comparing configuration settings when a platform is rebooted against the settings when it was set up. A "hash" algorithm is used to calculate a value from information stored in the Platform Configuration Registers (PCRs) when the platform is setup. When the platform is re-booted, a new hash value is calculated and compared against the original. If the values match, the computer or cell phone or other platform starts up and login proceeds. In unprotected systems, PCRs are accessible and the hash values are stored in system memory that is subject to compromise. In TPM-capable platforms, the hash value is calculated using the SHA-1 algorithm, access to the PCRs requires trusted authorization, and the hash values are stored within the TPMs in secure, non-volatile memory. These values are used to create Attestation Identity Keys (AIKs) that cannot be used unless a hash value is the same at the time of use as when the AIK was created. This makes it possible to determine if trusted-state configuration parameters are corrupted. If they are corrupted, use of the device may be denied. TPM-Protected digital signatures: Protect the private signature keys. Keys are stored inside the TPM and are not exposed in system memory during signing operations. A true Random Number Generator (RNG) is used to create RSA key pairs internal to the TPM. The TPM chip's RNG generates the seed numbers for the cryptographic processor's encryption, decryption, and key generation functions. Performing the RSA calculations in the TPM instead of in the general system processor improves both system and encryption performance. The TPM generates, stores, and manages cryptographic keys in hardware, which "hardens" applications that originally relied on software-only encryption algorithms.

      The main thing to get out of all that is that you never get the private keys.. Ever....
      And the hash values can only be reset by rebooting.

      the process of acquiring AIKs. 1. Owner bundles into an ID (request: New ID PubKey Endorsement Cert, Platform Cert, Conformance Cert) 2. Owner sends ID request to TTP 3. TTP verifies Certificates 4. TTP signs ID 5. Signed ID sent to TPM AIKs are created using Certificates (also called Credentials) available within the TPM. AIKs do not have any direct association with the EK or the credentials. AIKs are always bound to the platform and can be used to provide attestation to the platform's identification and configuration. It is important to note that the service provider (or challenger) trusts the Trusted Third Party (TTP) to do its due diligence before issuing AIKs to a platform.

  2. Re:Oh boy! by Alex+P+Keaton+in+da · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Yes, I agree, the OSX GUI is awesome, and why would you be excited that someone booted Linus onto a MAC and got a b/w screen!?!?!
    I can answer that- Because this is an important step into something we have all been interested in, i.e. whether or not we can boot something other than an apple os onto an intel mac...
    A thousand mile journey begins with a single step, and all that jazz...

    --
    And All I Ask is a Tall Ship And a Star to Steer Her By
  3. Re:Windows on iMac? by Intron · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Cause he sure wouldn't want to sell hardware that ran the world's three most popular O/S's would he? Oh, wait... yes he would.

    --
    Intron: the portion of DNA which expresses nothing useful.
  4. Re: ATI Unknown Device by dch24 · · Score: 3, Interesting
    So... funny comments about black and white displays, eh?

    From Apple's website, 1002:71c5 *might* be the Radeon X1600. (This is the PCI vendor:device ID for the video chip.) An ATI Radeon X1800 is 1002:7109, but ATI doesn't always number their devices in any reasonable way.

    The ATI linux driver should support it ... let's wait 'til the weekend and see if they get the graphics driver working. Should be SWEET!

    (drums fingers impatiently...I'm at work)

  5. Re:FUD ALERT by PFI_Optix · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I evaluated a couple of G5 servers a while back. Aside from OSX being a poor server, a large part of the reason I decided against recommending them to my customers was that they were more expensive than their PC counterparts, with no additional benefits to justify the cost.

    Like I said, I'd like to see the new Intel Macs go up against a PC of similar price (both a home fab and a Dell/HP model, just to be thorough). I'm specifically interested in how AMD's new dual-core chips would fare against it.

    My money is on the AMD :)

    All that said, the new Intel Macs have piqued my interest. We're going to be in the market for a new computer soon to go in our living room, and the new iMac is attractive enough and affordable enough that I just might give it a shot.

    --
    120 characters for a sig? That's bloody useless.
  6. Open Hardware? OS-SOS! by Paraplex · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I wonder if someone will/could develop an OSOSOS (ah.. thats open source operating system operating system.. oper.. oh.. nm). A low level platform that translates the various OS calls to whatever hardware? is that a ridiculous suggestion?

    It's inevitable that all three operating systems will co exist peacefully on the same hardware, and I wish the manufacturers (ok I wish apple) would just play ball, but seeing as this doesn't seem to happen...

    It's really the interface & the software I use various OS's for & the interface *should* be completely customisable and run on the top of the OS (I mean its a small enough foot print anyway & The kind of customisation I would like leaves me to want for linux, but then unable to use the software I require to utilise that customisation)

    So that leaves the OS to deal with hardware, file management etc which should *really* be cross platform. Can anyone tell me what the actual difficultes encountered when getting OSX running on IntelPCs or Linux/Windows running on IntelMacs?

    --
    Rich Gentlemen Hide - The Existential Comic
  7. Re:Apple lost identity after dumping Power by linguae · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Now you can build their product on your own by order a Dell and installing openBSD.

    I miss the PowerPC too, and if somebody came out with a G5 notebook with OS X, I'd buy one of those in a heartbeat. I'm not too fond of the Intel switch, either, due to the same reasons (even though I would buy a PowerBook Core Duo^W^W^W MacBook Pro if I had the money). However, Apple still has OS X. OpenBSD and OS X are two different beasts (even though OS X is a BSD derivative) OpenBSD is a standard Unix derivative that is designed for security. (I am personally a FreeBSD and Windows user). OS X is a Unix derivative designed so that way nobody would know it was Unix until somebody opened the Terminal. The Mac OS has always had a wonderful interface (OS 8 and 9 are still very usable and had wonderful applications, albeit a bit unstable), and OS X improves on it by a mile. There is also a lot of support for important proprietary software whose OSS equivalents still have some improvement or nonexistant (e.g, Photoshop, MS Office, Java [yes, it works in BSD, but not without spending a good half of a day compiling, and forget Java on an non-x86 platform in BSD], certain software required for work/school, etc). OpenBSD is a fine OS (especially for security and for CS majors), but it isn't a hallmark of usability. (I can say the same with OS X; OS X doesn't focus on security as much as OpenBSD does, and sometimes OS X is suspectible to little but annoying security issue that OpenBSD patched up years before)

    Of OS X was merely BSD with lipstick, then why are so many PC users are willing to either pirate OS X or buy it for $129 and break EULAs and even the DMCA to install OS X on their vanilla PCs? For those who don't feel like cracking DRM, why are they using emulators like PearPC to run OS X that only run OS X at the speed of an old Power Mac 8600? Heck, we still have Rhapsody and NEXTSTEP/OPENSTEP users. Turns out that the lipstick makes a huge difference. Put it like this, if you had a choice between asking somebody out who is very intelligent and nice, versus somebody who was not only very intelligent and nice, but also so beautiful or handsome that you dropped everything that you were carrying when you saw her or him, who would you ask out? There are many people at the Apple store shelling out hundreds or thousands of dollars itching to have their hands on a white or aluminum object running BSD with lipstick, because that lipstick makes BSD easy to use and supports all of the applications that they need. Heck, I'd buy OS X on my PC if Apple decided to release OS X on vanilla PCs (but that will never happen, so I'm content with sticking to FreeBSD for my Unix stuff and Windows XP for compatibility with the outside world, until I switch to the Mac. Besides, my fastest machine is a 950MHz Duron; OS X for x86 requires SSE2).

    So yes, Apple lost the PowerPC (which was a great chip, it was just the G4's performance stagnated over the past year or two), but Apple still has the Mac. As long as Apple still continues to sell Macs (even if those Macs are just PCs with pretty cases and BSD-with-lipstick), then people will still demand them, and I will still lust for them ;)

  8. Re:Is this news? by dustmite · · Score: 2, Interesting

    WTF ... so is it also "not news" when soldiers get killed in Iraq because "it's already known that soldiers keep getting in Iraq"? Or it's not news when there's a hurricane because "it's known that we have hurricanes"?

    If you carry through the logic of the slashdot "this is not news" crowd ('X is not news because (generalisation_of_X) is known'), then nothing is actually news. I mean nearly all news boils down to a few same generalisations that have been occuring since human history began ... why bother with the details?

    I know you people think it makes you look clever, but really, it's tiresome hearing the same distorted arguments over and over about why each and every bloody slashdot story ever posted "isn't news".

  9. Re:Why do this? by nathanh · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Not trying to flame here but I just don't get why everyone wants to install Linux and Windows on expensive Mac hardware.

    Because Apple laptops are prettier and have more features than similarly priced laptops from Dell, HP, Toshiba and IBM. I'd pay more for an Apple though luckily I don't have to; they cost roughly the same.

    Because Linux is a better system than OS X. Although I appreciate that some of you are infatuated with the sparkly lights and whizzy animations in OS X, I tire quickly of such things and prefer the practical productivity of Linux. I like my Fullscreen button for every application (proper fullscreen, not the half-arsed attempt in OS X). I like automatic security updates for all the software on my machine. I like the fact that Linux is faster on the same hardware (subjectively and objectively it is faster). I like the fact that my servers and my laptop run the same software - even the same Linux distribution - so I don't have to "change gears" in my network. I like the fact that I'm not bound to the shaky future of a single company; Linux will always be around even if my particular distro goes under.

    I also like the fact that my Linux distro cost $7 for 6 compact discs, it included every piece of software I needed including the office suite, and upgrades are free. MacOS X is surrounded by shareware vultures for trivial items - like $29.99 for what is effectively an untar utility for DMG files. No thanks. I left all that nonsense behind when I dumped MS-DOS 3 and I've no intention of going back to that particular hell.

    PS: I also like the 1-second sleep, better battery life, and slick windowing system in OS X, but I don't like them enough to give up all the benefits of Linux.

  10. Re:no it doesn't... by Laur · · Score: 2, Interesting
    64-bit processors

    Doesn't anyone else find it ironic that they are back to 32 bits now? I haven't heard that fact mentioned by anyone else, and I remember how much they touted the fact that they were the first "64 bit desktop."

    --
    When you lose something irreplaceable, you don't mourn for the thing you lost, you mourn for yourself. - Harpo Marx
  11. I really hate to say this, but... by vga_init · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I told you so.

  12. It boots from a USB drive! by RedBear · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Am I the only one that is less excited about the Linux part than about the fact that the Intel Macs can apparently boot from USB drives? Up until now Macs have only been capable of booting from Firewire drives, something about the USB bus getting reset during the boot process. This means it will eventually be possible to carry around a single USB drive from which you can boot your choice of Windows, Linux or Mac OS X on any available computer hardware that supports booting from USB, whether it's a "PC" or a Mac. This is very cool.

    But maybe I'm the only one crazy enough to imagine having a drive with bootable partitions of Windows, Linux, "LinuxIntelMac", LinuxPPC, and Mac OS X, and being able to carry around my entire computing environment without carrying any computer hardware with me. Put it on a 2.5" notebook drive in a small USB 2.0/Firewire drive enclosure and it will fit in a shirt pocket. Notebook drives go up to 120GB and 7200rpm these days too, so it's not like it would be slow. Wherever you go, you're home. I've even seen some drive enclosures with integrated fingerprint readers. The whole disk is encrypted so you wouldn't have to worry about losing information if it's stolen. Keep an identical drive in a computer at home and you can probably even keep a backup of the entire multi-OS drive with something like dd.

    Someday I'm going to actually turn this from a pipe dream into a reality, just you wait.

  13. Re:Gotta love the old Slashdot hypocrisy by jonadab · · Score: 2, Interesting

    > Osama bin Laden as chairman of the fed? Good idea.

    Now, that made me laugh.

    You could have made your same point with some garden-variety example, positing bin Laden for a normal (albeit important) position of leadership (e.g., President of the US), wherein the cheif problems have to do with his ideology and background, but instead you chose to suggest him as Chairman of the Federal Reserve, a position with such special requirements that many people who would make fine US Presidents would be terribly inappropriate choices, at the same time setting him against Greenspan, a veritable icon, whose judgement in financial matters has been trusted by people at pretty much all points on the political spectrum for an entire generation. It's the kind of absurd overkill that doesn't just make your point, but is also hilarious.

    Good show.

    --
    Cut that out, or I will ship you to Norilsk in a box.
  14. Re:FUD ALERT by Logic+and+Reason · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Someone asked if they existed, I answered that question. Whether the two I found were up to your standards is irrelevant.

    Strictly speaking, you're right, but quality is hardly irrelevant to someone thinking of buying such a system, which was presumably part of the reason the parent asked the question.

    I was mistaken about Dell making PCs with that form factor, though; it was Gateway I was thinking of, as your comment reminded me. We use a number of Gateway Profiles here at my university, and I've found them to be decent machines.