The question of whether Secure Boot UEFI firmware technology in the exclude Linux PCs running Windows 8 have taken a fresh twist.
Red Hat engineer Matthew Garrett, one of the first to flag up the problems of the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface, has blogged that Microsoft Windows 8 rules for certified hardware doesn’t make it easier to boot Linux in spite of what some have claimed.
Redmond’s the requirements mentioned the existence of the boot options to a PC that can run the Linux kernel that is digitally signed. Custom boot mode will allow users to modify the contents of the database signature Secure Boot machine and platform keys (PK) that verifies the kernel during system start-up.
This, according to Garrett, meaning users can install their own buttons, including those provided by the vendor of the Linux operating system, for whatever they want. While this sounds simple conceptually, Garret points there is a lot of practical detail is lost, a fact that will work with Microsoft’s key infrastructure is difficult.
Garrett wrote that this may deter people from bothering to install Linux on my Windows 7 PC: