[Beowulf] [craig.hunter@nasa.gov: Re: Intel?]

[Eugen Leitl]

On Wed, Jun 08, 2005 at 07:56:52PM +0200, Franz.Marini at mi.infn.it wrote:

> My guess is that they'll put some kind of hardware signature on their
> mobos, completely ignored by WinXP (or linux, for that matter), but looked
> for by OS/X on boot.

My guess is that they're using Intel's forthcoming DRM to lock down the
OS X to only run on authenticated hardware.

> And if my guess is right, I give hackers around the globe no more than 3-4
> days from the availability of the first OS/X for Intel to find a way
> around the protection, thus enabling any x86 pc to run it ;)

If it's hardware DRM, and if the implementation has no obvious holes it will
take a great deal longer than that. And it's easy enough to revoke the
compromised key with the next online software update.

Besides, why should an OS designed for a homogenous hardware run on random
beige boxes? Lack of drivers alone is sufficient to kill the idea.

Of course this would be a boon for any F/OSS OS, as well. The price markup on
low end should be tolerable.

> But, time will tell...

-- 
Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a>
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