3 ms·

Intel and AMD should consider how much goodwill they may gain by just removing IME and PSP. The framework and librem laptops show that there is a market of peop

Intel and AMD should consider how much goodwill they may gain by just removing IME and PSP. The framework and librem laptops show that there is a market of people willing to pay for upgradable devices which are independent from makers and free from out-of-the-box backdoors.

least 5y ago
> Intel and AMD should consider how much goodwill they may gain by just removing IME and PSP. On a very practical scale; none. It'd make some nerds happy but it's like a subset of a subset of a niche population. > The framework and librem laptops show that there is a market of people willing to pay for upgradable devices which are independent from makers and free from out-of-the-box backdoors. All it shows is that there is some market for it but I think you're either severely overestimating framework and librem's scale or are severely underestimating intel and AMD's. I'm extremely skeptical that either company cares about that niche nor do I think they'd rework all their processors just to satisfy that niche.
acdha 5y ago
> Intel and AMD should consider how much goodwill they may gain by just removing IME and PSP. Too small to measure: the subset of privacy activists who are concerned about it is orders of magnitude smaller than the number of IT workers who use those features, and that's a tiny fraction of the number of people buying computers. Calling it as a backdoor is your choice but consider that using a term not following its standard definition is not likely to be effective or good for your credibility if you're trying to draw attention to something more important in the future.
- marcodiego 5y ago
  I'll consider the advice.
dev_tty01 5y ago
Compared to the markets Intel serves, the Librem and framework markets are inconsequential. No good financial incentive for them to invest in such a move.
marcodiego 5y ago
For siblings commenting that the librem and framework markets are small... You're right, it is small indeed. What is harder to measure is the impact of the goodwill they could gain. It is not very different from what they gain of sponsoring events. Of course changing behavior could be more expensive or complicated, but it may be worth in the long run. IME features maybe useful for some people. But there are people who don't want it. I don't think it would be expensive to make it possible to disable it via eFuses. Remember that linux was once much smaller than any commercial UNIX. So was Apache and Nginx. Linux is still very unpopular among gamers; that didn't prevented Valve from investing in what now is their lifeboat. A small market should not be seen as an excuse to not invest in something that will certainly bring goodwill.

least 5y ago

> Intel and AMD should consider how much goodwill they may gain by just removing IME and PSP. On a very practical scale; none. It'd make some nerds happy but it's like a subset of a subset of a niche population. > The framework and librem laptops show that there is a market of people willing to pay for upgradable devices which are independent from makers and free from out-of-the-box backdoors. All it shows is that there is some market for it but I think you're either severely overestimating framework and librem's scale or are severely underestimating intel and AMD's. I'm extremely skeptical that either company cares about that niche nor do I think they'd rework all their processors just to satisfy that niche.

acdha 5y ago

> Intel and AMD should consider how much goodwill they may gain by just removing IME and PSP. Too small to measure: the subset of privacy activists who are concerned about it is orders of magnitude smaller than the number of IT workers who use those features, and that's a tiny fraction of the number of people buying computers. Calling it as a backdoor is your choice but consider that using a term not following its standard definition is not likely to be effective or good for your credibility if you're trying to draw attention to something more important in the future.

marcodiego 5y ago
I'll consider the advice.

dev_tty01 5y ago

Compared to the markets Intel serves, the Librem and framework markets are inconsequential. No good financial incentive for them to invest in such a move.

marcodiego 5y ago

For siblings commenting that the librem and framework markets are small... You're right, it is small indeed. What is harder to measure is the impact of the goodwill they could gain. It is not very different from what they gain of sponsoring events. Of course changing behavior could be more expensive or complicated, but it may be worth in the long run. IME features maybe useful for some people. But there are people who don't want it. I don't think it would be expensive to make it possible to disable it via eFuses. Remember that linux was once much smaller than any commercial UNIX. So was Apache and Nginx. Linux is still very unpopular among gamers; that didn't prevented Valve from investing in what now is their lifeboat. A small market should not be seen as an excuse to not invest in something that will certainly bring goodwill.