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FF4m3
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FF4m3

Anon

Linus Torvalds In NSFW Red Hat Rant

From The Register:

Linus Torvalds has again vented his spleen online, taking on Red Hat employee David Howells with a series of expletive-laden posts on the topic of X.509 public key management standard.

The action takes place on the Linux Kernel Mailing List, with Howell posting a request that Torvalds “pull this patchset please”.

Howells wants the code accepted into the kernel so Red Hat can ”embed an X.509 certificate containing the key in a section called '.keylist' in an EFI PE binary and then get the binary signed by Microsoft.” This arrangement, he suggests, is more elegant than the way the Linux kernel signs certificates today.

Torvalds' initial response is “not without a lot more discussion first”, because “quite frankly, this is f*cking moronic. The whole thing seems to be designed around stupid interfaces, for completely moronic reasons. Why should we do this?”

As the conversation unfolds Torvalds points out that the discussion is not a fellatio contest, suggests that “If Red Hat wants to deep-throat Microsoft, that's *your* issue” and lambasting Red Hat for even suggesting key management be done in the kernel.

Opinion in the thread seems to favour Torvalds' point of view and discussion has petered out, so it looks like the Lord of Linux has taken this round.


firephoto
Truth and reality matters
Premium Member
join:2003-03-18
Brewster, WA

1 recommendation

firephoto

Premium Member

It's all about money and if there is any chance of Microsoft floundering it will present an opportunity for Red Hat to increase it's profits by "helping" them in the future. This means Red Hat kisses ass for now with good enough standards and implementations rather than right ones that are good for everyone.

It's very similar to the public face of the whole mono fiasco, good for a few but a waste of time for most and all in the name of short term gains or whatever people seek "now".

It's also kind of dumb for Red Hat to be submitting kernel changes for things specific to their implementation of something that they created the method for in the first place. They really should put some real effort into real standards instead of their stupid Red Hat did it and expects everyone else to do it too type of standards. It's just another typical carrot on a stick that others can never catch up to before the carrot is replaced.
SCADAGeo
Premium Member
join:2012-11-08
N California

SCADAGeo to FF4m3

Premium Member

to FF4m3
ArsTechnica - Linus Torvalds: I will not change Linux to “deep-throat Microsoft”.

FF4m3
@rr.com

FF4m3 to FF4m3

Anon

to FF4m3
Torvalds clarifies Linux's Windows 8 Secure Boot position

The fuss over how to handle Windows 8 PC's Secure Boot keys in desktop Linux continues and Linus Torvalds spells out how he wants to see it handled.

No one, but no one, in the Linux community likes Microsoft's mandated deployment of the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) Secure Boot option in Windows 8 certified PCs.Torvalds was mad as hell with proposals to place Secure Boot keys and their management into the Linux kernel itself.

...what does Torvalds himself think about all this? He's not happy. "Stop the fear mongering already."

Torvalds then goes on, in his own take-no-prisoners style, to suggest a plan on how to deal with Secure Boot signed keys and modules, which "is based on REAL SECURITY and on PUTTING THE USER FIRST instead of your continual 'let's please Microsoft by doing idiotic crap' approach.' "

Torvalds concluded, "It really shouldn't be about Microsoft blessings, it should be about the *user* blessing kernel modules. Quite frankly, *you* are what the key-hating crazies were afraid of. You peddle the "control, not security" crap-ware. The whole "Microsoft owns your machine" is *exactly* the wrong way to use keys."

Until you pry Torvald's cold dead fingers from Linux, Microsoft Secure Boot keys and signed binary modules are not going to be in the Linux kernel.

Details at site.
garywk
join:2001-03-06
Clarkston, WA

garywk

Member

said by FF4m3 :

Torvalds clarifies Linux's Windows 8 Secure Boot position

The fuss over how to handle Windows 8 PC's Secure Boot keys in desktop Linux continues and Linus Torvalds spells out how he wants to see it handled.

No one, but no one, in the Linux community likes Microsoft's mandated deployment of the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) Secure Boot option in Windows 8 certified PCs.Torvalds was mad as hell with proposals to place Secure Boot keys and their management into the Linux kernel itself.

...what does Torvalds himself think about all this? He's not happy. "Stop the fear mongering already."

Torvalds then goes on, in his own take-no-prisoners style, to suggest a plan on how to deal with Secure Boot signed keys and modules, which "is based on REAL SECURITY and on PUTTING THE USER FIRST instead of your continual 'let's please Microsoft by doing idiotic crap' approach.' "

Torvalds concluded, "It really shouldn't be about Microsoft blessings, it should be about the *user* blessing kernel modules. Quite frankly, *you* are what the key-hating crazies were afraid of. You peddle the "control, not security" crap-ware. The whole "Microsoft owns your machine" is *exactly* the wrong way to use keys."

Until you pry Torvald's cold dead fingers from Linux, Microsoft Secure Boot keys and signed binary modules are not going to be in the Linux kernel.

Details at site.

Stick to your guns, Linus. You da man. Keep on saying no to anything MS related.