*countable infinities only

[Chris Murphy]

On Jun 1, 2012, at 1:14 PM, Gerry Reno wrote:

> That would be much easier accomplished by having the OS reside on a read-only device that could only be written to by
> the user actively using hardware to enable the write during installation.

Except this hardware does not exist, and it only took about a decade to get 512e AF drives from concept to ship. Ergo not only not easier, not possible (practically anyway as people want to use SSDs and HDDs).

And also except that your premise that all users, by default, have the competency to determine what software is to be trusted, and push a button on hardware typically located inside of an enclosure, is flawed. You're basically requiring a.) all users with laptops have the ability to physically open their laptops to push this button; or b.) a laptop case design that exposes this button, as if that isn't fraught with all sorts of potential problems.

> Forensic firms have been using these types of read-write controllable drive interfaces for years.  Hardware already exists.

And the commonality in environment, workflow, and user competency between forensic firms and Fedora users is maybe 5%? I mean, if we're going to just throw spaghetti at a wall, I get to make wild guesses too.

It appears not even remotely practical, let alone in a ~6-12 month time frame. And there's zero incentive for drive manufacturers to do this and pass the cost onto all of their consumers.


Chris Murphy