Date: Wed, 06 Jun 2012 16:10:27 -0400 From: Daniel Staal <DStaal@usa.net> To: <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org> Subject: Re: Is this something we (as consumers of FreeBSD) need to be aware of?] Message-ID: <ace73d16e2245d04f58d92d1d38e5498@mail.magehandbook.com> In-Reply-To: <20120606150500.1345c639@scorpio> References: <20120605201900.GB60388@hs1.VERBENA> <20120605172046.2571e964@scorpio> <03ad948ef0fdab7fabfe119fdef00a0a@mail.magehandbook.com> <20120606150500.1345c639@scorpio>
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On 2012-06-06 15:05, Jerry wrote: > On Wed, 06 Jun 2012 12:49:53 -0400 > Daniel Staal articulated: >> >>I don't believe at this point FreeBSD has any intent one way or >>another, really. It's not an immediate problem for any platform >>supported by the FreeBSD project, at least for a technically-inclined >>user who's willing to check out their BIOS. (Even if they are using >>the latest hardware, the x86-derived platforms aren't going to >> require >>this code signing yet.) So it'll probably be a 'wait and see if it's >>something the FreeBSD community needs a solution for' at this point. >>But this is just my impression. > > I totally agree with you. Unfortunately that speaks to the sad state > of > affairs that FreeBSD appears to be in. When it comes to supporting > the > latest technologies, it tends to be behind the curve when compared to > other operating systems. Wireless networking and USB support are only > a > few examples. That was not my intended message with the above. :) FreeBSD supports several server-class hardware platforms. ARM is not currently a server-class hardware platform. (It's a very interesting platform for mobile and small devices, but it has not seen any significant use that I am aware of in the market that FreeBSD is primarily aimed at.) Secure Boot - if even a part of the platform - can easily be disabled on those platforms. So it is not a current problem, and there is a fair amount of bad feeling about the technology, so it may not ever be a problem. RedHat is facing severe backlash from the community because it supported this technology. A 'wait and see' approach to whether it needs to be supported at all - especially as it doesn't appear to need support at present - is a reasonable course. > I don't know of any user personally who purchased a new PC and then > threw FreeBSD on it. Most users that I have come into contact with > use > 2+ year old units that have been replaced by shiny new Windows units. > I > don't see that changing anytime soon. *Raises hand*. I did this with two boxes within the past year. One turned out to be to new for FreeBSD - but Linux didn't have support for it yet at that point either. Now either does. >>In slight defense of RedHat: They do a lot of worrying about >>enterprise and government customers, many of whom don't really care >>what platform they are running on - as long as they can get 'support' >>and it passes their security/operational tests. In that environment, >>I can easily see some middle-manager decreeing that disabling the >>signed-boot process is verboten, without any understanding of the >>meaning or the consequences, and enforcing it on the whole >>company/division, to the point where any non-signed OS would be >> thrown >>out the door. FreeBSD has probably already been thrown out the door >>at those types of locations, as there is no 'official' support >>channel. (Yes, for my sins, I work at one of these...) > > What sin? You use a product and want it properly supported. You have > an > absolute right to that. Posting a message on a forum and hoping that > someone can answer it is not the type of support a business would > want. I'm not sure what sin I committed to be consigned to this place, but it must have been heinous. (And in many cases 'official support' appears to be 'post a message about it on our forum, so we can ignore you more efficiently'.) Daniel T. Staal --------------------------------------------------------------- This email copyright the author. Unless otherwise noted, you are expressly allowed to retransmit, quote, or otherwise use the contents for non-commercial purposes. This copyright will expire 5 years after the author's death, or in 30 years, whichever is longer, unless such a period is in excess of local copyright law. ---------------------------------------------------------------
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