On Thursday 30 November 2006 13:07, Andre Truter wrote:
I don't follow. What hooks might MS have in the kernel and how would that get in the kernel in the first place? Please be patient with me on this because I'm making it up as I go along... but how about this hypothetical scenario:
Suse gets (permission) to install proprietary drivers (using existing kernel hooks) which provide genuine *interoperability* at the cost of degraded performance. In other words compatible kernel modules could conceivably be introduced (not Linus sanctioned) into the distro (I can change the kernel if I want to, for crying out loud) that may or may not provide *interoperable* functionality, but would provide deliberate performance degradation. [ this might have been done on exiting platforms in the past in order to slow down say, Netscape ] Yes, it would be detected, and some folks might even be sharp enough to patch it and publish their findings, but the damage would be done. If the damage were subtle enough, it might not even be suspected immediately. But even if it is suspected, it would take time and money to search, remove, and/or remedy the damage. I agree that no distro company would be foolish enough to fork their own kernel version... but its not inconceivable. I want a promise from Novell that the kernel will be controlled by the community outside of the Novell corporate environment... and not under the monetary control of M$. -- Kind regards, M Harris <>< -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org