Fitting Everything Together
0pointer.net
Posts and writings by Lennart Poettering

The creator of systemd (Lennart Poettering) has recently created a new company dedicated to bringing hardware attestation to open source software.

What might this entail? A previous blog post could provide some clues:

So, let’s see how I would build a desktop OS. The trust chain matters, from the boot loader all the way to the apps. This means all code that is run must be cryptographically validated before it is run. This is in fact where big distributions currently fail pretty badly. This is a fault of current Linux distributions though, not of SecureBoot in general.

If this technology is successful, the end result could be that we would see our Linux laptops one day being as locked down as an Iphone or Android device.

There are lots of others who are equally concerned about this possibility: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46784572

  • tomalley8342English
    31·
    6 hours ago

    Yes, this commercial entity founded by people who have a literal track record of doing exactly that

    • sunbeam60@feddit.ukEnglish
      3·
      5 hours ago

      Volunteer adoption of a system found to be better by distro maintainers is not the same as forced adoption of a system distro maintainers don’t find to be better.

      • tomalley8342English
        21·
        4 hours ago

        “Found to be better” because of commercial resources and support pouring in and outcompeting grassroots alternatives to gain market share. Do you share the same lukewarm acceptance for what chromium is doing for web browsers?

        • sunbeam60@feddit.ukEnglish
          4·
          4 hours ago

          I’m not sure what we’re arguing about now, but I’m convinced it’s not the original point I was trying to make. I think both of our lives are too short to carry this one. Have a good evening.