full-disclosure - Re: [linux-elitists] Gutsy Gibbon to include strictly-free branch (fwd)

Open Source and information security mailing list archives

Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2007 22:54:33 -0400 (EDT)
From: Jay Sulzberger <jays@...ix.com>
To: full-disclosure@...ts.grok.org.uk
Subject: Re: [linux-elitists] Gutsy Gibbon to include
 strictly-free branch (fwd)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
  Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2007 19:04:06 -0700
  From: Dave Crossland <dave@...6.com>
  To: Greg KH <greg@...ah.com>
  Cc: linux-elitists@....org
  Subject: Re: [linux-elitists] Gutsy Gibbon to include strictly-free branch

  On 16/04/07, Greg KH <greg@...ah.com> wrote:
  > > takes an ultra-orthodox view of licensing: no firmware, drivers,
  > > imagery, sounds, applications, or other content which do not
  > > include full source materials and come with full rights of
  > > modification, remixing and redistribution. There should be no
  > > more conservative home, for those who demand a super-strict
  > > interpretation of the 'free' in free software. This work will
  > > be done in collaboration with the folks behind Gnewsense."
  >
  > Hm, to do this properly it should only boot if you have linuxbios
  > installed, but what's the odds that people will realize that...

  That depends how nasty proprietary BIOS behave...

  "Intel EFI is a DRM bios, since it has unlimited control of your
  memory and I/O, and implements a full network stack. So the BIOS can
  veto your I/O, and report your being veto'd over the network. By
  design. I know people at banks who are very unhappy with this. They
  thought they were running GNU/Linux and knew what the whole thing was
  doing.

  A few years ago Intel were explaining the cool EFI stuff, how EFI can
  download a new version of the BIOS and burn it to flash, on its own.
  They explained how convenient this is - but chaos went off when the
  banks heard about this. For the banks, like LANL, when we buy a
  consumer machine, we either demand full, buildable, source code to
  their BIOS, or that they ship LinuxBIOS, now."
  - http://understandinglimited.com/2007/04/15/fosdem-2007-notes/

  If you care about freedom, you'll be aware of this  problem, and your
  next motherboard will be something listed on
  http://linuxbios.org/Supported_Motherboards - the Gigabyte M57SLI-S4
  is the current favourite, and FSF sysad Ward Cunningham has written
  http://linuxbios.org/M57SLI-S4_Build_Tutorial

  --
  Regards,
  Dave
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