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> We on the iPod engineering team were impressed. But Apple corporate didn’t like it. Starting with the iPod nano, the operating system was signed with a digita
by antihero 6y ago
> We on the iPod engineering team were impressed. But Apple corporate didn’t like it. Starting with the iPod nano, the operating system was signed with a digital signature to block the Linux hackers (and others). The boot ROM checked the digital signature before loading the operating system; if it didn’t match, it wouldn’t boot.
Why oh WHY are companies like this? If we want to put our own OS on a cool bit of hardware, what is the problem with that? Absolutely shocking mentality that needs to die (but looks like frankly it is getting worse).
- ben_w 6y agoGiving you the freedom to run arbitrarily code on your device means giving your government the freedom to run arbitrarily code on your device, and it means giving every hacker on the planet who finds a remote exploit the freedom to run arbitrarily code on your device. I don’t mind that freedom being limited to desktops and specialist hardware like Raspberry Pi and Arduino, and taken away from everything else like a phone or an MP3 player or a printer. What’s the saying? The ‘S’ in IoT stands for ‘security’?
- anfilt 6y agoYou know it's possible to have a signed boot loader without locking the owner out of the device. Moreover, I do mind such freedom being taken away.
- anfilt 6y agoI know! This was the main thing I noticed about this article. I was like really -.-