[OLPC Security] Bitfrost and dual-boot

[Carl-Daniel Hailfinger]

On 30.05.2008 08:34, Albert Cahalan wrote:
> On Fri, May 30, 2008 at 1:15 AM, Edward Cherlin <echerlin at gmail.com> wrote:
>   
>> On Thu, May 29, 2008 at 8:45 PM, Albert Cahalan <acahalan at gmail.com> wrote:
>>     
>>> On Thu, May 29, 2008 at 5:07 PM, Edward Cherlin <echerlin at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>       
>>>
>>>> Also, I think you completely misunderstand the market. The ability to
>>>> use Open FirmWare instead of a proprietary BIOS will be of intense
>>>> interest to all PC vendors. I expect OFW to sweep through most of the
>>>> market in no more than two or three years.
>>>>         
>>> I can't imagine why. LinuxBIOS (now coreboot) didn't.
>>> Even EFI didn't. Your wishes are not their wishes.
>>>       
>> Albert, I'm not talking to you any more until you start making sense.
>> Linux BIOS never booted any Windows other than 2000 (with ADLO), and
>>     

That's not really true. coreboot (former LinuxBIOS) does boot XP and
Vista with the right payload. I should know it, I'm one of the coreboot
developers. Granted, that knowledge is not spread far and wide.

>> EFI isn't Open Source.
>>     

That's not entirely accurate. There are EFI implementations which are
Open Source, but EFI is just a presentation layer and performs no
hardware init, so you're back to square one.

> You think the PC vendors care that EFI isn't Open Source?
> You think the PC vendors care that BIOS isn't Open Source?
> Really, they have NO desire for Open Source firmware.
>   

Indeed. Some companies say that any public code for hardware init poses
a threat to their intellectual property and/or is baaad for various
made-up reasons.

> That's your desire, not theirs. Do not assume they think like you.
>   

I can tell you how many hardware vendors think:
- Does it reduce cost? If not, scratch the idea.
- Does it make the lawyers nervous? If yes, scratch the idea. In
general, lawyers of hardware vendors get nervous once somebody suggests
to publish anything, regardless whether the content is obvious or not.
- Is it still compatible with DOS and any and all legacy operating
systems ever invented (including Windows 95/98/ME)? If not, scratch the
idea unless your intended market (high-end gaming rigs or somesuch) will
never want that compatibility. This is evident from the mainboards you
can actually buy with EFI.


Regards,
Carl-Daniel