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."

Comments

That's it...

[Timex]

I've been a fan of Red Hat/Fedora since... well, just after they started providing a distro on the Intel platform (some of us remember when Red Hat was only available for the DEC Alpha)...

I think it's time to consider a new distro, if this is how they want to work. I've been putting off looking at Mint, but I guess that will change soon.

Re:That's it...

[Anonymous Coward]

The point of the whole article is that the next generation of UEFI-compliant hardware will not be able to boot unsigned code. So-called "trusted" computing has made it to mainstream consumer devices. Distros that do not get their bootloader signed will not be able to run on unmodified hardware since the firmware will be configured to refuse-by-default.

Re:If microsoft controls the 'keys'

[Hatta]

Because Microsoft increased their political contributions by an order of magnitude after the anti-trust trial. It was never about protecting consumers, it was a shakedown pure and simple. Microsoft didn't pay the requisite bribes, and they suffered for it. Now they've learned their lesson, and you can expect pretty much anything they do to be ignored by the DOJ. Especially Obama's DOJ.

Glad I quit Linux

[Anonymous Coward]

No Flash on Linux. No booting Linux without BIOS weirdness. Glad I jumped ship to Mac a few years ago. Linux has just became a pain in the ass to use as a modern desktop environment if you like to use computers for typical things.

Re:If microsoft controls the 'keys'

[ClioCJS]

When Apple ties our hands, it's to increase user experience. We're supposed to love that thumb up our ass.

When Microsoft ties our hands, 'how can this be legal and not an abuse of their monopoly power'?

The thing is, they don't have a monopoly, and never have. Anybody can run and write for whatever OS they want. Though every developer who's worked under multiple platforms has always told me Apple is the worst to program for.