I used to think Samsung was boring, but safe & reasonable $$

Story: Three PC Brands Where SecureBoot On Linux Is BotchedTotal Replies: 2
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BernardSwiss

Feb 02, 2013
12:22 AM EDT
I guess I was wrong. Or at least over-confident.

But Toshiba's not a surprise. I remember doing the Sony-style "where can I find affordable peripherals with a compatible connector" for a friend. (I very nearly bought a used Toshiba netbook -- very nice, indeed, but I didn't have a Linux live USB handy to check it out, and I didn't feel like taking the risk.)
caitlyn

Feb 04, 2013
6:49 PM EDT
I've actually had very good results with Toshiba laptops over the years. I have a vintage 2001 Libretto L1 (Transmeta Crusoe 600 processor, 384MB RAM) that's still going strong. In my experience they make good hardware. Their Linux support in the US is non-existent, however Toshiba Labs in Japan has an English language mailing list that offers help to anyone who asks a question. The list is an invaluable resource to making things work right on just about any Toshiba hardware.
linuxwriter

Feb 04, 2013
10:29 PM EDT
The source for this story is misleading: http://mjg59.dreamwidth.org/22028.html

It begins by saying the state of UEFI on Linux is that most things work fine. Such is not the case - only Fedora and Ubuntu of the major distributions can boot on secure boot-enabled machines. And this means that "most things work fine"?

What is the use of a Linux CD/DVD booting on secure boot-enabled macines when it cannot be installed unless there is a second drive in the machine?

Yet at the end, the author writes, "If you have any other UEFI system that's unable to install Fedora 18, let me know and we'll do our best to work out what's going on." Yeah, can you ask all OEMs to include an extra drive in the machines which they sell with Windows 8 installed?

The source also makes reference to the Samsung laptop problem which has nothing to do with secure boot. It has to do with UEFI, period.

This is just grandstanding, nothing else. Yet everyone reproduces it verbatim without bothering to check.

There are some developers who have been chasing Microsoft's tail in order to satisfy the needs of Linux companies. They have made short-term compromises for which all of us ordinary users will have to pay in the long-term.

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