__/ [ Mark Kent ] on Friday 27 April 2007 09:12 \__
> Jerry McBride <mcbrides9@xxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
>> Guy Fawkes wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> "Roy Schestowitz" <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> schreef in bericht
>>> news:1245839.yshsElgC79@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>> "Trusted" Computing
>>>>
>>>> ,----[ Quote ]
>>>> | Do you imagine that any US Linux distributor would say no to the
>>>> | US government if they were requested (politely, of course) to add
>>>> | a back-door to the binary Linux images shipped as part of their
>>>> | products ? Who amongst us actually uses the source code so helpfully
>>>> | given to us on the extra CDs to compile our own version ? With
>>>> | Windows of course there are already so many back-doors known and
>>>> | unknown that the US government might not have even bothered to
>>>> | ask Microsoft, they may have just found their own, ready to
>>>> | exploit at will. What about Intel or AMD and the microcode on
>>>> | the processor itself ?
>>>> `----
>>>
>>> With Linux at least you can check (and people DO check, believe me) if
>>> there are backdoors. With Windows there's no way to know for sure. Even
>>> if you lucky enough to be able to see the source code of Windows through
>>> Shared Source you'll only be able to see 70% of it (I keep wondering
>>> what's in the other 30%!!) and you're not allowed to build it at any
>>> time, therefore making a binary compare between the build version and the
>>> retail verion (to see that the binary is actually based on the source
>>> code provided) impossible.
>>>
>>> Ramblings about microcode are nonsense. BIOS would be feasible, though
>>> (and is being done by various governments and virus writers).
>>>
>>
>> For me, the big worry is the BIOS. It's the one last dark place,
>> compressed and encrypted out of our collective sight, that still bothers
>> the hell out of me...
>>
>> If any of the big brandname motherboard factories were to start shipping
>> their products with LinuxBIOS... they'd have a LOT of new customers
>> overnight... Hell... even OpenBIOS would be better than the current
>> fare...
>>
>>
>>
> I think you're right - a move to the linuxbios for all motherboards
> would remove that particular design weakness.
The OEM/mobo maker could get pressured by some company though. Someone out
there hate anything Linux* with passion. Not even an MBR is acceptable.
--
~~ With kind regards
Roy S. Schestowitz | Open syntax, Open API's, Open standards
http://Schestowitz.com | Open Prospects ¦ PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
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