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Stand up for your freedom to install free software

Gofast

Regular Member
http://www.fsf.org/campaigns/secure-boot-vs-restricted-boot/statement

Microsoft has announced that if computer makers wish to distribute machines with the Windows 8 compatibility logo, they will have to implement a measure called "Secure Boot." However, it is currently up for grabs whether this technology will live up to its name, or will instead earn the name Restricted Boot.

When done correctly, "Secure Boot" is designed to protect against malware by preventing computers from loading unauthorized binary programs when booting. In practice, this means that computers implementing it won't boot unauthorized operating systems -- including initially authorized systems that have been modified without being re-approved.

This could be a feature deserving of the name, as long as the user is able to authorize the programs she wants to use, so she can run free software written and modified by herself or people she trusts. However, we are concerned that Microsoft and hardware manufacturers will implement these boot restrictions in a way that will prevent users from booting anything other than Windows. In this case, we are better off calling the technology Restricted Boot, since such a requirement would be a disastrous restriction on computer users and not a security feature at all.

Please add your name to the following statement, to show computer manufacturers, governments, and Microsoft that you care about this freedom and will work to protect it.

For those that want to dual boot a machine this is a real concern , yet more Microsoft restrictive policies being forced on the world.

Take a look and consider signing the petition.
 
signed as well.
 
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Just boycot Win 8 or don't buy pre built pc systems with it installed, but even them formatting the HD or replacing it would soon fix that, Microsoft have at last totally lost the plot, They have forgotten what P stands for in PC we better had remind them. the best way don't buy windows 8, download and use a hacked version instead, as it will no doubt be free from this BS

Not only will this resrict you using FREE software , but it will also prevent users installing paid for softwware unless they purchased it via the microsoft store built into win 8 , that alone should spell the end of microsoft releasing more versions of win , unless they change things the end user must never have the right to choose taken away
 
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Windows8 is not obligatory. And, by all accounts, useless on a desktop.

Not the point, this thread is about the new boot system that Microsoft are imposing on hardware makers and the way that will affect users and their choices of software/OS.

Windows8 is already discussed in another thread.
 
Well, I admit that I wasn't going to bother at first, my initial thought being "not worried - I'd wipe it out and shove Linux on the PC instead anyway".
Then I switched my brain on, and decided that was a rather selfish viewpoint.

show computer manufacturers, governments, and Microsoft that you care about this freedom
The most important thing here, as I see it, is the computer manufacturers rather than governments or Microsoft. It's all very well for us to say things along the lines that we wouldn't buy such a PC, or would bin W8, but users of this forum are generally fairly well clued-up - what about the zillions of people who are not?
They will simply buy whatever PC-World, e-buyer etc. have on offer, and get stuck with the problems, because they don't know how to get around them.
In my (revised) opinion, it is, therefore, important to get the message across to the manufacturers that this sort of thing is not welcome (and may lose them sales, which is all they care about, of course!), so that they don't churn out locked PCs in the first place. The last bit of the actual petition statement, not quoted above, is "We commit that we will neither purchase nor recommend computers that strip users of this critical freedom, and we will actively urge people in our communities to avoid such jailed systems", so the petition aims to do just that.
Signed.
 
I look at it the other way. For people that dont know how to format and reinstall something its probably better for them it is more locked down otherwise withing weeks/months the machine will likely be a corrupted spyware invested heap anyway.
 
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heh, where there is a will there is a way for those who have no clue to mess up their systems..
 
l stand by my statement.. once upon a time Macs supposedly didnt get viruses, admittedly very few were interested in Macs but now theres a wealth of viruses.

regardless, as a rule of thumb if your online then there will always be some sort of worry. for instance, just because l have noscript installed doesnt mean l wont get a virus, granted l block all java and most other methods of getting a virus onto my system on sites l dont trust but that doesnt mean lm protected, in much the same way even if the system was locked down someone will find a way to exploit something, its human nature lol.
 
Yep the old saying of "nothing is 100% secure" tends to ring true.
 
Had a look at the Petion and attemped to sign but it came up with 'unretrievable error' - should I have registered and loged in first is that why it wasn't accepted.
 
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It's probably just an error with their site at the time you tried. I just put in my name and email without problems.
 
Also signed.
 
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