#windows 8 "enabled" pcs may be prevented from booting linux

in a recent post matthew garrett (via greg.k.h) explains that windows 8 may utilize UEFI secure booting and lock away all linux boot managers (or at least attempt to do so).

There is no centralised signing authority for these UEFI keys. If a vendor key is installed on a machine, the only way to get code signed with that key is to get the vendor to perform the signing. A machine may have several keys installed, but if you are unable to get any of them to sign your binary then it won't be installable.
full read here:
http://mjg59.livejournal.com/138973.html

a video presentation of UEFI booting (ironically in WMV format):
http://video.ch9.ms/build/2011/wmv/457.wmv

my opinion is that such a firmware setup may greatly reduce the choices for home users to purchase some new system and essentially limit their freedom if they are already using one of such due to certain circumstances. also software updates in signed boot managers might get prevented as well and therefore a firmware update will be required. but i do think that UEFI is a great peace of technology and that BIOS should be eventually replaced - sooner or later.

update 23.09.2011:
looks like microsoft responded to the issue, but apparently they do not provide enough evidence to contradict the available facts for the consequences of setting up a secure boot interface:
http://mjg59.dreamwidth.org/5850.html

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#20 years of linux

as you may know, linux will soon have its 20th birthday (1991 - 2011). apparently its celebrated on august 25. here is an hour long video filmed at linuxcon japan of gregkh and linus discussing the version history so far, the recent "jump" to version 3.0 and some of the future plans for the kernel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__fALdvvcM0

edit:
also in another video (44:18), andrew morton (akpm) gives an excellent answer to the question "what will happen to linux in another 20 years?" and i would like to quote a part of it:

"...could be at one day, a completely new technology comes along, some little quantum based computer with a million quad cores, which comes along and completely makes linux obsolete. i suspect the first thing such a computer will do is emulate x86 and we will just keep going. [laughs]"


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#Quantum cryptography

You can check the following lecture by Daniel Gottesman on quantum cryptography, if you are interested in the possibilities of using quantum-computers, q-bits and super-positioning in cryptography.

Quantum computers are yet to be designed since its very difficult to tame particles and their behavior. But already, there are some very baby-stage prototypes. If you have watched science-fiction shows like StarTrek, you may have noticed that they don't use binary computers (with ones and zeros - 01010010) they use something more advanced. Maybe quantum computers are the future. They are supposed to be times faster, than any normal computer.

The lecture is 1hour, 15min long:

video at video.google.com

"Daniel Gottesman - Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics Sensitive information can be valuable to others - from your personal credit card numbers to state and military secrets. Throughout history, sophisticated codes have been developed in an attempt to keep important data from prying eyes. But now, new technologies are emerging based on the surprising laws of quantum physics that govern the atomic scale. These powerful techniques threaten to crack some secret codes in widespread use today and, at the same time, offer new quantum cryptographic protocols which could one day profoundly alter the way we safeguard critical information."