[ShadowAce]

[tm22721]

BS.

BIOS should be treated as hardware. For stability it must remain unchangeable, though configurable.

After all, the so-called chips in your computer have microcode which controls their internal functions. Must that also be accessible to hackers just because it is software ?

End of issue.

BUMP

[general_re]

"It's generally known that free software is very secure and very reliable," Stallman said.

Ha. Ha. Ha. That's why we're all still running sendmail, right, because of how secure and stable it is.

Anyway, enough cheap shots - Stallman's problem is that he wants to divorce one part of the hardware from another, and surprise, surprise, none of the hardware people are willing to oblige. The solution's pretty simple, though - if you find current mobos philosophically objectionable, go build your own, soup to nuts, and make your own BIOS to go with it.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Related link: OpenBIOS.

[tfecw]

Interesting article. This line sort of jumped out at me

"What do you think would happen if there was a virus that started reflashing PCs" BIOS software"
To say that would suck would be an understatement.


I think we are tooling around with a It's not broke don't fix it situation. The bios cost in a computer is almost hidden from the user. We do notice the OS cost though and other costs of buying a new computer.

Flame alert (for me that is ;))
This is just another thing from the open source movement. Apparently they tried to build an open source BIOS and failed miserably and now they are going to bitch until they get their way.
Let them try and get Intel to release all the required specs to for a BIOS for free. There is nothing that says Intel has to give away the secrets to it's lively hood.
I also doubt they (the guy who wants to start this free bios) will eat the cost of paying for specs or diagrams from all of the hardware manufactures. This guy needs a better idea or a different way to make money.

[NW Mike]

bump

[kezekiel]

"The one thing we have to worry about first is security. What do you think would happen if there was a virus that started reflashing PCs" BIOS software, said Mike Goldgof, senior vice president of marketing at Phoenix Technologies. "If it ever happened on a large scale, I think a lot of PCs would start turning into bricks. What people take for granted...is the reliability of the (BIOS) firmware today."

So, Goldgof is prepared to assure us that there will be *no* flashing functionality built in to the closed, DRM-enabled BIOS chips? He's willing to promise that Microsoft and Sony won't want to flash the chips to update their DRM schemes? And he's prepared to guarantee that if that functionality is enabled, that hackers won't exploit those holes?

Please. It's been abundantly proven that closed does not mean secure by any stretch of the imagination. Closed products simply perpetuate undue corporate control over our systems. Stallman may be a socialist, but he's right on this one.

[Lunatic Fringe]

RARELY is there a need to update the BIOS. I see no reason to force BIOS makers to open up their code for all the world to see.

[B Knotts]

Stallman is indeed a bit of an extremist, but he's right about the necessity of open source BIOS and open hardware archetecture. Without that, Linux and other open source OSs may have a shrinking universe of compatible hardware, because as hardware makers embed "secure" technology in the BIOS, it will become harder and harder to stay compatible.

[MD_Willington_1976]

"Neither you nor I, as a user of a computer, has any reason to change the BIOS...unless it's broken," said Jonathan Joseph, CEO of BIOS maker Insyde Software. "You're not going to type any faster in (Microsoft) Word because you have a new BIOS. The only thing you hide in BIOS is broken hardware."

Others cite guarding against hackers as a reason to keep BIOS closely held.

"The one thing we have to worry about first is security. What do you think would happen if there was a virus that started reflashing PCs" BIOS software, said Mike Goldgof, senior vice president of marketing at Phoenix Technologies. "If it ever happened on a large scale, I think a lot of PCs would start turning into bricks. What people take for granted...is the reliability of the (BIOS) firmware today."

All crap...plenty of smart people fix what the mainboard companies have screwed up...and there are already virii that reflash you bios...

[ikka]

Without a closed BIOS, Microsoft and others won't be able to foist off their Palladium crap or whatever it is called, to us.

[Dilbert56]

I'd bet $20 the hardware makers would move in the other direction. Hardwire everything and make you replace chips to upgrade BIOS.

[Mr Ramsbotham]

These pee-pee-headed geeks seem to think they own the companies that make the hardware and software they use.

[kimosabe31]

bump

[Cicero]

Screw up the BIOS and there may be no way to fix it. A boot sector virus that require reformatting the hard drive is bad enough. A BIOS virus that screws up the BIOS might necessitate junking the whole motherboard.

I just did a couple of BIOS upgrades on two of my Dell computers, and it gives me a chill every time I do it. I cross myself, knock on wood, breathe a prayer, stick in the floppy, and reboot. If this process screws up, forget about it. No way to fix it. The last thing we need is a bunch of hackers out there messing with BIOS codes.

[Bush2000]

"DRM is theft," he said. "The idea of the free software movement is you should be in control of your own computer. Treacherous competing (his term for so-called trusted computing) is a scheme to make sure you're not in control."

Stallman is an idiot. It's that simple.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

I don't think giving free, unfettered access to the BIOS to all consumers is such a good idea.

A very large number of PC owners don't understand less dangerous stuff like how to remove unwanted items from starting up with Windows. And they want to give these people a higher level of access to The BIOS? Not good.

[clyde asbury]

bttt

[MarkL]

"The one thing we have to worry about first is security. What do you think would happen if there was a virus that started reflashing PCs" BIOS software, said Mike Goldgof, senior vice president of marketing at Phoenix Technologies. "If it ever happened on a large scale, I think a lot of PCs would start turning into bricks. What people take for granted...is the reliability of the (BIOS) firmware today."

Boy, talk about closing the barn door after the horses have escaped! Been there, done that, for years now!

And it's a straw argument as well... Having access to the BIOS code won't make it any easier to flash the bios, though it may allow for unintended things to happen. When a virus flashes your bios now, it just keeps your computer from booting. And depending on the motherboard, you may need to send it back to the manufacturer.

Mark

[Constitution Day]

Read tomorrow