During the mid 80's software manufactures tried to lock down their software.  What they found was stopping pirating entirely reduced sales.  Who would have known.  The thought at the time was that without the ability to copy and try, some were unwilling to buy.  Unintended byproduct.  The other thing that happens was a work around.   There were several apps that would unlock the software and allow it to be installed anywhere.

If the hardware manufactures lock down their hardware several things are going to happen.  someone will create an open source / free app to beat the hardware lock.   

Another unintended consequence could be surplus (used) hardware become unusable.

Another consequence could be a niche market for unlocked hardware, which could cause the OEM's to lose market share. 

Yet another unintended consequence is the potential for increased support by M$.  I seem to recall a number of years ago M$ tried to lock down it's OS and support was a big issue and they stopped the practice.

If they lock down the hardware, I will not buy Dell or HP any longer.  I will build my own.

------------------------
Keith Smith

--- On Sat, 6/9/12, Derek Trotter <expat.arizonan@gmail.com> wrote:

From: Derek Trotter <expat.arizonan@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Fedora Pays Microsoft Boot License fee.
To: "Main PLUG discussion list" <plug-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us>
Date: Saturday, June 9, 2012, 9:13 PM

From the article mentioned in the original post:

Microsoft’s practice is facilitated by the UEFI, or Unified Extensible Firmware Interface, which allows a manufacturer to lock down the boot process so that it will only work on their specified conditions.

What's to keep Microsoft from telling a manufacturer they must lock down the machine so no other operating system will boot on it if they want licenses to install windows on their machines?

On 6/9/2012 17:14, Eric Shubert wrote:
I don't see how that would be a problem. Please reference exact part of the article which leads you to believe that.

BL, there's a lot of misinformation about this. I don't think it's anything to be concerned about.


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