21 ms·

> I can’t recommend libreboot enough, or even heads if libreboot isn’t your speed. Why though? Not a single reason mentioned in post about why would it be bett

by merpkz 8mo ago

> I can’t recommend libreboot enough, or even heads if libreboot isn’t your speed. Why though? Not a single reason mentioned in post about why would it be better than whatever stock BIOS the laptop is shipped with.

hypfer 8mo ago
The goal of that blog post is not to sell you something. This can be confusing on HN, I know.
- normie3000 8mo ago
  A recommendation without context is pointless. A recommendation with context could be very helpful!
  - hypfer 8mo ago
    [flagged]
    - cromka 8mo ago
      [flagged]
  - maxerickson 8mo ago
    Burma Shave.
    - miscellanemone 8mo ago
      You've unlocked a hilarious memory of driving through southern California and seeing all these signs as a kind of one-word-at-a-time advertisement back in the 90s. Someone had to have recreated them as some kind of joke because all the original signs had been gone for decades.
alias_neo 8mo ago
It replaces a proprietary component of your system with an open source one. Reading https://libreboot.org/#why-use-libreboot https://libreboot.org/#why-use-libreboot might provide further enlightenment.
- ktm5j 8mo ago
  That still doesn't answer the question of why it's better. Unless you're paranoid about an OEM backdoor, I think this is cool but not worth the effort.
  - joe_mamba 8mo ago
    I think firstly is the FOSS obsession and backdoor paranoia from evangelists, and secondly and the more practical one is that the proprietary IBM BIOS is full of bugs and anti-consumer blacklists and whitelists designed to limit repairability and upgradeability, which stil boggle my mind on how those laptops got such a good image on that front.
    - ktm5j 8mo ago
      I mean, maybe paranoia is the wrong word.. it's not something that I'm personally worried about, but stuff like that has actually happened.
      - joe_mamba 8mo ago
        >but stuff like that has actually happened Yes, if you live and organize your life around things that are unlikely to happen to you, but only because they've happened ONCE to someone else, typically a high value target by state actors, that's called paranoia. Most people are not gonna be targeted via BIOS hacks. From state actors to online scammers they all have easier ways to getting your data remotely.
        fsflover 8mo ago
        > Most people are not gonna be targeted via BIOS hacks. This is not really true: https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150812/11395231925/lenovo-busted-stealthily-installing-crapware-via-bios-fresh-windows-installs.shtml https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150812/11395231925/lenov...
adrian_b 8mo ago
Some people prefer to know exactly what their computer does, either to enable debugging in obscure cases or due to security concerns. Thanks to Intel, who has invented the completely unnecessary System Management Mode, to compensate for the laziness of Microsoft, who could not be bothered to update MS-DOS and Windows with some features required in modern computers, now the BIOS has the ability to do whatever it wants on your computer, without this being detectable by the owner. Hopefully the BIOS writers do not abuse this, and the many problems caused by BIOSes are due to unintentional bugs and not due to malice, but it would still better to be certain that your firmware does not do anything nefarious. When debugging hardware problems, it is also much simpler when you are certain about what the computer really does, instead of not knowing whether the BIOS takes control when certain hardware events happen, overriding any policies that you may try to implement in your operating system. Replacing the proprietary BIOS still does not provide complete control over what you own, as there are auxiliary CPUs with their own agenda, but it is still much closer to full control than when you do not know what the BIOS does.
- nhubbard 8mo ago
  > Hopefully the BIOS writers do not abuse this Unfortunately, they have. Multiple examples from the excellent Cathode Ray Dude: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5M0TwnkWUM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5M0TwnkWUM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssob-7sGVWs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssob-7sGVWs
  - adapiz 8mo ago
    Damn that's scary. I like that guy. He said everything necessary to that topic. Never rely on something you've found working for your case but not designed to be used like that.

by merpkz 8mo ago

hypfer 8mo ago

The goal of that blog post is not to sell you something. This can be confusing on HN, I know.

normie3000 8mo ago
A recommendation without context is pointless. A recommendation with context could be very helpful!
- hypfer 8mo ago
  [flagged]
  - cromka 8mo ago
    [flagged]
- maxerickson 8mo ago
  Burma Shave.
  - miscellanemone 8mo ago
    You've unlocked a hilarious memory of driving through southern California and seeing all these signs as a kind of one-word-at-a-time advertisement back in the 90s. Someone had to have recreated them as some kind of joke because all the original signs had been gone for decades.

alias_neo 8mo ago

It replaces a proprietary component of your system with an open source one. Reading https://libreboot.org/#why-use-libreboot https://libreboot.org/#why-use-libreboot might provide further enlightenment.

ktm5j 8mo ago
That still doesn't answer the question of why it's better. Unless you're paranoid about an OEM backdoor, I think this is cool but not worth the effort.
- joe_mamba 8mo ago
  I think firstly is the FOSS obsession and backdoor paranoia from evangelists, and secondly and the more practical one is that the proprietary IBM BIOS is full of bugs and anti-consumer blacklists and whitelists designed to limit repairability and upgradeability, which stil boggle my mind on how those laptops got such a good image on that front.
  - ktm5j 8mo ago
    I mean, maybe paranoia is the wrong word.. it's not something that I'm personally worried about, but stuff like that has actually happened.
    - joe_mamba 8mo ago
      >but stuff like that has actually happened Yes, if you live and organize your life around things that are unlikely to happen to you, but only because they've happened ONCE to someone else, typically a high value target by state actors, that's called paranoia. Most people are not gonna be targeted via BIOS hacks. From state actors to online scammers they all have easier ways to getting your data remotely.
      - fsflover 8mo ago
        > Most people are not gonna be targeted via BIOS hacks. This is not really true: https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150812/11395231925/lenovo-busted-stealthily-installing-crapware-via-bios-fresh-windows-installs.shtml https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150812/11395231925/lenov...

adrian_b 8mo ago

Some people prefer to know exactly what their computer does, either to enable debugging in obscure cases or due to security concerns. Thanks to Intel, who has invented the completely unnecessary System Management Mode, to compensate for the laziness of Microsoft, who could not be bothered to update MS-DOS and Windows with some features required in modern computers, now the BIOS has the ability to do whatever it wants on your computer, without this being detectable by the owner. Hopefully the BIOS writers do not abuse this, and the many problems caused by BIOSes are due to unintentional bugs and not due to malice, but it would still better to be certain that your firmware does not do anything nefarious. When debugging hardware problems, it is also much simpler when you are certain about what the computer really does, instead of not knowing whether the BIOS takes control when certain hardware events happen, overriding any policies that you may try to implement in your operating system. Replacing the proprietary BIOS still does not provide complete control over what you own, as there are auxiliary CPUs with their own agenda, but it is still much closer to full control than when you do not know what the BIOS does.

nhubbard 8mo ago
> Hopefully the BIOS writers do not abuse this Unfortunately, they have. Multiple examples from the excellent Cathode Ray Dude: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5M0TwnkWUM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5M0TwnkWUM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssob-7sGVWs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssob-7sGVWs
- adapiz 8mo ago
  Damn that's scary. I like that guy. He said everything necessary to that topic. Never rely on something you've found working for your case but not designed to be used like that.