Linux on Windows 8 PCs? There's a workaround for that

Good news for Linux fans and software freedom advocates: a new tool may now let you run Linux on devices built for Microsoft's Windows 8.

 

The Linux Foundation Secure Boot System will allow Linux to run on computers using the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) firmware, PC World reported.

 

"The Linux Foundation wishes not only to enable Linux to keep booting in the face of the new wave of secure boot systems, but also to enable those technically savvy users who wish to do so to actually take control of the secure boot process by installing their own platform key," it quoted Linux Foundation technical advisory board member James Bottomley, who led the development of the bootloader, as saying.

 

Bottomley said the Linux Foundation bootloader provides a hash code certified by Microsoft, and support infrastructure to boot a generic Linux kernel.

 

"We have in place a protocol where Microsoft is happy for us to hand off from the initial Microsoft signed EFI binary load to a separately verified EFI binary chain, which the individual distributions control," he said.

 

He added the Linux Foundation bootloader, which he described as technically more of "a preloader," can work with any generic Linux bootloader.

 

"We did this because our mission is to enable any bootloader in the Linux ecosystem to work with secure boot," he said.

 

Microsoft's Windows 8 runs on new hardware controlled by UEFI firmware, which provides "secure-boot" technology.

 

Although UEFI seeks to secure computers against malware by requiring a trusted key before booting, it has presented problems for other operating systems.

 

The PC World report noted many in the Linux community fear original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) may not provide a UEFI off-switch, effectively barring Linux from running on UEFI-enabled machines.

 

But now, the latest releases of many major Linux distributions now include a bootloader to work with UEFI, such as Ubuntu 12.10 and Fedora 18.

 

Bootloader vs shim

 

PC World said this was not the first approach someone in the Linux camp used for working with UEFI.

 

Last year, security developer Matthew Garrett released his own shim - a tool that overrides the UEFI security system to load Linux.

 

Now, PC World said Garrett and Bottomley are discussing the possibility of merging Garrett's shim with the Linux Foundation's bootloader.

 

Garrett helped Bottomley create the bootloader, along with other developers from the Linux Foundation, Red Hat, and Canonical. — TJD, GMA News