On Mon, 23 Sep 2002 08:33:40 -0400
Damon Register
Back to the subject, does anyone really know what this all means and what it means to Linux?
I think people are getting over-worried about this. First, what about all the legacy windows applications out there? Are you telling me that these new processors will refuse to run them? People are not going to drop all they currently have and buy all new Palladium apps. That sure will inhibit sales of processors. So there is going to have to be a way to enable and disable it, probably in the bios. I'll keep mine turned off. If they don't provide an on-off switch, you will see a whole bunch of "restraint-of-trade" lawsuits filed. Say I write some little c program to do some little job, and I won't be able to run it without a "Palladium-approved" signature on it? It would be a logistics nightmare just to process all the requests for signing. In other words, MS would have finally gained monopolistic control over software. That means lawsuits. The only way around that, is if the government sets up an "Office of Software Signing", where they impartially sign all software. I don't see that happening, plus it would defeat the purpose of Palladium, because alot of bad code would sneak thru the "government screeners". So in the end, Microsoft will have to sell "Palladium" to it's (L)users. You know, a big "splash" on the software box...."Palladium enabled for your safety and security"....blah,blah,gag. In the meantime, all us linux users will laugh, and just turn it off in the bios. -- use Perl; #powerful programmable prestidigitation