Windows 8 Secure Boot Isn’t a problem for Suse

Windows 8 will be released on the 26th October of this year and the frustrating thing for open source lovers like me is that Windows 8 makes it very difficult or if can say, impossible to run my Ubuntu OS alongside Microsoft Operating System.

 

Windows Secure Boot if you don’t know, is controversial UEFI based feature developed by Microsoft to prevent unauthorized firmware, operating systems, or UEFI drivers from running at boot time especially for ARM based devices. Now, in a recent post on their blog, Article author, Vojtěch Pavlík explains some of the details about how Windows 8 Secure Boot isn’t a problem for the Open Source OS.

According to Pavlìk, they are two types of trusted users:

First, those who hold the keys. The Platform Key (PK) allows almost everything. The Key Exchange Key (KEK) allows all a PK can except changing the PK.

Second, anyone with physical access to the machine. A user with physical access can reboot the machine, and configure UEFI.

UEFI offers two types of variables to cater to the needs of those users, the first of which is called “Authenticated Variables” and the second “Boot Services Only Variables” – And for Pavlik, the second, Boot Services Only Variables, is the best option, to a sucessful implementation of Secure Boot that is both secure and open source friendly, especially because its compatibility with GPLv3.

This may be the right direction for Open Source operating systems. to run alongside Windows 8 without any problems or possible patent infringement because they start with a shim based on the Fedora Shim which is signed by a Suse KEK (Key Exchange Key).

What do you think about UEFI? Will is cause the major problems that a lot of FOSS users are expecting or is it the millenium bug all over again?