Published by Robert Pogson June 4th, 2012
in technology.
Having a monoculture of M$’s OS on PCs is deadly. M$’s update process was used to ship malware. To do that a fake signature was developed one way or another. Since we now know that USA/Israel cooperated in this, there are some feasible paths:
- M$ gave a signature to their “partners” in US government for the purpose,
- M$ was tricked into doing so,
- USA cracked M$’s keys…, or
- USA bought keys from malware artists.
I have no idea which of these happened, but it is clear that if you want secure IT, you must eliminate the monoculture. It is clear that if there were some compromised keys, there could be more, a lot more out of thousands of millions of signatures. Is it enough that M$ revokes a few signatures? I doubt it. The world will demand diversified IT ASAP. This is good news for FLOSS. I would bet Iran is pulling out all the stops to eliminate that other OS today. How many others will pick up the pace of migration as a result of this? How many others will set up super-computers to crack codes so they can use this trick?
“Having a Microsoft code signing certificate is the Holy Grail of malware writers”
see Flame malware hijacks Windows Update to spread from PC to PC | Ars Technica.
- Robert Pogson
One of the neat things about Google+ is that it’s a global forum where people from everywhere share information. I am keenly interested in how people in diverse lands use GNU/Linux. I have been following the adventures of ELCOT, an Indian governmental organizations spreading IT. They distributed many thousands of dual-boot PCs to students with both GNU/Linux and that other OS. It turns out that students are removing that other OS because it is a malware-magnet and because they can do what they do with GNU/Linux.
“the students, realised after using the two operating systems that, windows is prone to virus attacks and Linux is robust. 
and few educational institues also encouraged students to remove windows and to retain linux because the linux which comes with the free laptops are coming with some really good educational packs.”
I hope this information reaches the upper echelons of ELCOT so they will avoid wasting resources on that other OS. They have done many roll-outs of GNU/Linux and should have been aware there was no need for that other OS in Indian IT. I have been a student in organizations that used that other OS and was able to function better than my classmates because there were no artificial barriers between me and my PC. I could use it as a server, for instance, with no additional licence.
see https://plus.google.com/u/0/108596677475686018856/posts/LWa2mKMrASZ
- Robert Pogson
Published by Robert Pogson June 4th, 2012
in technology.
Intel has shipped millions of Classmate PCs and variants. Many of these use GNU/Linux. These, alone, could account for a larger share of PC usage than NetApplications reports. For example, GNU/Linux is very popular in Latin America where 4 million Classmates have sold, yet NetApplications shows ~1% GNU/Linux there. Needless to say many other OEMs have sold GNU/Linux PCs in South America.
see Intel total Classmate PC shipments to reach 12 million units by end of 2012.
- Robert Pogson
Published by Robert Pogson June 4th, 2012
in technology.
People love small cheap computers. According to Walmart, 13 of the top 14 best-sellers are Android/Linux tablets priced $60-$299 while that other tablet is $399.
This reflects the huge advantage FLOSS has on personal computers. There’s no huge licensing fee bundled with the device. OEMs of other kinds of personal computers will soon catch on to this mode of business. If they don’t, they will lose serious market share. I expect by the end of 2012 to see the embargo of */Linux on retail shelves gone everywhere and sanity can return to the market. The Wintel monopoly will be just a bad memory.
see Walmart.com: Electronics: Computers: Tablet PCs.
- Robert Pogson
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