Maybe it's a processor reset via the keyboard controller. AFAIK some MSDOS memory manager used this trick to leave the protected mode on 286s again since Intel forgot(!) to implement a proper CPU instruction.
The CPU-ID would then probably be active until the BIOS turns it off again at the next reboot.
What about some kind of stock exchange: Anyone who is willing to fund an OSS project gets some sort of account at a trusted agency and can place his money on any advertised project (typically some sort program, the funder needs but no one hasn't cared to do yet).
When some programmer claims to have finished the project, the funders get informed and can - by their own choice - decide if it comes up to their expectations and donate their money to him. The funders can change their prefered projects at any time but they cannot reclaim their money. If they don't decide on a project for a certain timeout period (e.g. 2 years) the account gets canceled and the money is automatically donated to the FSF (or any other predefined OSS Organisation).
This would allow programmers to make a living (or at least cover their expenses) by writing free software that the people actually need. Since all donations are attributed voluntarily, the chances for abuse are minimal.
The obvious problems are, of course, to find a trusted organisation to run this stock exchange, to ensure secure communication with the server (US export laws) and to establish an infrastructure (maybe in cooperation with a bank) to allow small donations without excessive international transaction fees.
Yes, but it would deprive themselves from any benefits since they couldn't include patches into their commercial version (and after all, that's what commercial OpenSource licencing is all about).
A GPLed FreeQt would force an irreversible fork because the GPL is by far more restrictive than the QPL: Once you're in there, there's no way out again, while the QPL allows free contributions to remain free (you don't have to hand over your copyright, source has to remain open, etc.) but in addition to that allows commercial relicencing, which is essential if we want Linux to become the mainstream desktop OS.
After the office suite WordPerfect 2000, Corel will also bring the Windows version 9 of its graphic application Corel Draw to the German market. Corel Draw shall be available for Linux not before the end of the year. After the success of the Linux version of WordPerfect 8 (400000 downloads in only 4 weeks), there will also be WordPerfect 2000 for Linux including spread sheet, presentation module and calendar.
Don't get too excited by this! If the current lack of 3D hardware support brings too many Linux users into accepting binary-only drivers, this could set a dangerous precedent for other hardware manufactors.
1. Not every computer has an Ethernet card but every computer needs a CPU.
2. The MAC adress can be changed easily with most Ethernet cards
3. It is trivial to build software to run only on a CPU with a certain ID, which would force customers to turn this feature on. Using MAC adresses for the same purpose wouldn't be very useful since not every computer has one and it it is next to impossible to read the MAC adress without relying on third party hardware drivers.
I think the main-purpose of the CPU-ID feature is to allow for efficient copy-protection. I fear it wouldn't take too long until we see the first commercial software custom built to run only one particular CPU with the CPU-ID hardwired to critical code sections, which could easily be distributed over the Internet.
As long as this feature is there, no matter whether enabled by default or not, software companies will sooner or latter force their custumers to switch it on. Update "wizards" and digital signatures using the CPU ID will be other obvious applications and could be easily marketed as "security features" to the privacy-unaware public.
You don't have to be especially paranoid to imagine what happens if hardware vendors, software companies and certain three letter agencies begin to trade this information...
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Maybe it's a processor reset via the keyboard controller. AFAIK some MSDOS memory manager used this trick to leave the protected mode on 286s again since Intel forgot(!) to implement a proper CPU instruction.
The CPU-ID would then probably be active until the BIOS turns it off again at the next reboot.
What about some kind of stock exchange: Anyone who is willing to fund an OSS project gets some sort of account at a trusted agency and can place his money on any advertised project (typically some sort program, the funder needs but no one hasn't cared to do yet).
When some programmer claims to have finished the project, the funders get informed and can - by their own choice - decide if it comes up to their expectations and donate their money to him. The funders can change their prefered projects at any time but they cannot reclaim their money. If they don't decide on a project for a certain timeout period (e.g. 2 years) the account gets canceled and the money is automatically donated to the FSF (or any other predefined OSS Organisation).
This would allow programmers to make a living (or at least cover their expenses) by writing free software that the people actually need. Since all donations are attributed voluntarily, the chances for abuse are minimal.
The obvious problems are, of course, to find a trusted organisation to run this stock exchange, to ensure secure communication with the server (US export laws) and to establish an infrastructure (maybe in cooperation with a bank) to allow small donations without excessive international transaction fees.
Yes, but it would deprive themselves from any benefits since they couldn't include patches into their commercial version (and after all, that's what commercial OpenSource licencing is all about).
A GPLed FreeQt would force an irreversible fork because the GPL is by far more restrictive than the QPL: Once you're in there, there's no way out again, while the QPL allows free contributions to remain free (you don't have to hand over your copyright, source has to remain open, etc.) but in addition to that allows commercial relicencing, which is essential if we want Linux to become the mainstream desktop OS.
http://www.chip.de/news/ticker/public/8056.phtml:
After the office suite WordPerfect 2000, Corel will also bring the Windows version 9 of its graphic application Corel Draw to the German market. Corel Draw shall be available for Linux not before the end of the year. After the success of the Linux version of WordPerfect 8 (400000 downloads in only 4 weeks), there will also be WordPerfect 2000 for Linux including spread sheet, presentation module and calendar.
Don't get too excited by this! If the current lack of 3D hardware support brings too many Linux users into accepting binary-only drivers, this could set a dangerous precedent for other hardware manufactors.
This is easy to overcome: Silently change the BIOS setting and wait for the next reboot. After all, who checks his BIOS settings on every startup?
You are missing 3 important facts here:
1. Not every computer has an Ethernet card but every computer needs a CPU.
2. The MAC adress can be changed easily with most Ethernet cards
3. It is trivial to build software to run only on a CPU with a certain ID, which would force customers to turn this feature on. Using MAC adresses for the same purpose wouldn't be very useful since not every computer has one and it it is next to impossible to read the MAC adress without relying on third party hardware drivers.
I think the main-purpose of the CPU-ID feature is to allow for efficient copy-protection. I fear it wouldn't take too long until we see the first commercial software custom built to run only one particular CPU with the CPU-ID hardwired to critical code sections, which could easily be distributed over the Internet.
...
As long as this feature is there, no matter whether enabled by default or not, software companies will sooner or latter force their custumers to switch it on. Update "wizards" and digital signatures using the CPU ID will be other obvious applications and could be easily marketed as "security features" to the privacy-unaware public.
You don't have to be especially paranoid to imagine what happens if hardware vendors, software companies and certain three letter agencies begin to trade this information