Hardware Makers Confirm: No Linux Lockout On Windows 8 PCs

by Sam Dean - Nov. 04, 2011Comments (1)

Will Microsoft's Windows 8 lock Linux out of PCs? We've focused on that question, because Microsoft is working on a methodology for ultra-fast booting of Windows 8 PC through a specification called Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI). That specification reportedly includes a secure booting routine that is expressly designed to obstruct rootkit malware infections, but some observers worry that it could also mean that any Windows 8 PC will not be able to run Linux.

Microsoft has responded to the controversy, I've written up my reasons for why this whole argument is a tempest in a teapot, and we've covered noted Windows pundit Ed Bott's firm stance arguing that Windows 8 PC makers won't dare lock Linux out due to the support headaches that that would create. Now, Bott himself is citing assurances from Windows 8 PC makers that there will be no Linux lockout.

Bott writes, in an essay on why the Linux community shouldn't be concerned about the Linux lockout issue:

"Maybe they should be speaking with the companies that actually build those systems...That’s what I did yesterday, when I spoke with representatives of the two largest PC makers in the world."

Specifically, Bott contacted both Dell and HP and received assurances that users will be able to determine what OS setup they have on their systems. He reports that in the case of HP, it was difficult to even find anyone who was familiar with UEFI.

Granted, Bott has a way of alienating some Linux users (calling them "Linux fanatics" for example), but he does know the Windows ecoystem well, and his original point is the reason why Windows 8 PC makers wouldn't dream of locking Linux out: Doing so would put millions of angry users on support lines, waiting to berate a person at the other end. In the low-margin PC business, where support is the biggest cost center by far, hardware makers simply can't afford that.