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Red Hat Will Pay Microsoft To Get Past UEFI Restrictions
ToriaUru writes "Fedora is going to pay Microsoft to let them distribute a PC operating system. Microsoft is about to move from effectively owning the PC hardware platform to literally owning it. Once Windows 8 is released, hardware manufacturers will be forced to ship machines that refuse to run any software that is not explicitly approved by Microsoft — and that includes competing operating systems like Linux. Technically Fedora didn't have to go down this path. But, as this article explains, they are between a rock and a hard place: if they didn't pay Microsoft to let them onto the PC platform, they would have to explain to their potential users how to mess with firmware settings just to install the OS. How long before circumventing the secure boot mechanism is considered a DMCA violation and a felony?" Note that the author says this is likely, but that the entire plan is not yet "set in stone."
This is nonsense, the editorial on this article is gibberish.
First, secure boot is a legitimate concern. If you can guarantee a specific boot loader, you have a trust base to build a more secure system.
Second, you can install any OS you want. Just turn off secure boot, it's perfectly valid to do so. Just understand that now your boot foundations are untrusted, just like they are now on almost all PCs.
And what kind of person is going to install Fedora but can't be bothered how to boot into their BIOS and click "Yes, allow me to install other operating systems [X]"? Generally you can even install your keys, just like you can with SSL certs that you might trust.
Finally, Microsoft is doing Fedora a _favor_ here. Fedora is, as actual author indicated, totally free to get their own keys added. Microsoft isn't the problem here, but as usual the breathless, bloviating editorial text tries to make them out to be.