On Sat, 07 Jul 2012 18:14:19 +0530
Rahul Sundaram <metherid(a)gmail.com> wrote:
On 07/07/2012 03:51 PM, suvayu ali wrote:
>
> I am more worried about "free" as in freedom. I don't quite grasp
> the implications as an end user. For example consider the following
> scenarios.
>
> Can I freely choose to use proprietary (or for that matter
> alternative free) drivers for my hardware from whatever source I
> prefer?
On x86 systems, the ability to disable secure boot is mandated by
Microsoft and needed to debug Microsoft drivers and since all the
hardware manufacturers want to comply to this specification, you can
be rest assured they will provide this functionality and once you
disable secure boot (instructions for this will likely be in a Fedora
wiki page), then you are free to load up any custom kernel/kernel
module of your choice. Also Fedora will provide the tools that the
project itself uses within the official repository (ie) will be free
and open source and instructions to use your own key in custom mode.
I'll add here something that people seem to be missing a fair bit also:
MS has setup guidelines for hardware vendors that wish to get a
"Windows 8 Client ready" sticker. Note the "client" here. They are
not
requiring secure boot for any hardware targeted for servers.
kevin