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Linux adoption might get a serious kick the in pants if mainstream news started reporting that Intel was installing unknown drivers in their cpus. I am just ab

by ck2 13y ago

Linux adoption might get a serious kick the in pants if mainstream news started reporting that Intel was installing unknown drivers in their cpus. I am just about ready to switch to linux for desktop after windows xp updates cease. I've been using it for over a decade in the server environment so it is overdue.

larrik 13y ago
These are their graphics drivers, not CPUs.
- rbanffy 13y ago
  When there is a microcode blob update, there is nothing to guarantee it does only what it's supposed to do. The problem is not with GPUs - it's with software (writable microcode is after all, software) that you cannot understand.
- ck2 13y ago
  Isn't the 4000 embedded into the cpu chip?
girvo 13y ago
I've been running Linux on the "desktop" since 2006, and it's well worth the switch, in my opinion. Especially now, considering how streamlined most hardware configs are!
toyg 13y ago
"Linux adoption might get a serious kick the in pants if mainstream news started reporting that Intel was installing unknown drivers in their cpus." Because the general population cares so much about understanding what their computers do, right? I don't give a damn about what my car engine does, as long as it gets me from A to B without exploding. Linux adoption will dramatically increase only if this sort of software starts making serious trouble for final users, like refusing to play unlicensed MP3s or deleting your family videos because they were encoded with unlicensed tools. They are not that stupid... yet.
- venomsnake 13y ago
  Well as TPP showed Hollywood demands are insatiable. So if we have in Windows 10 - Microsoft Genuine Media Advantage Validation that makes the built in antivirus to mark unsigned mp3-s and mp4-s as viruses I won't be surprised. That is assuming you could load your own files on windows machine by that time.
  - toyg 13y ago
    s/Windows/Windows, OSX, iOS, Android and ChromeOS/g
- svachalek 13y ago
  If your gas price changed on where you drove and a handful of government agencies were kept apprised of your location at all times and sometimes the car just refused to take a certain street, you might start having an interest in what's inside your car.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
mortyseinfeld 13y ago
No kick in the pants because 99.99% of people don't care.
alexwright 13y ago
Unknown drivers? How much do you know about any of the other drivers for any of the hardware? Most NICs and Video chipset drivers now come with a binary blob you have to feed it, it's completely opaque binary microcode. As far as video hardware goes Intels is far more open than the other two vendors of actual useful video hardware anyway.

by ck2 13y ago

larrik 13y ago

These are their graphics drivers, not CPUs.

rbanffy 13y ago
When there is a microcode blob update, there is nothing to guarantee it does only what it's supposed to do. The problem is not with GPUs - it's with software (writable microcode is after all, software) that you cannot understand.
ck2 13y ago
Isn't the 4000 embedded into the cpu chip?

girvo 13y ago

I've been running Linux on the "desktop" since 2006, and it's well worth the switch, in my opinion. Especially now, considering how streamlined most hardware configs are!

toyg 13y ago

"Linux adoption might get a serious kick the in pants if mainstream news started reporting that Intel was installing unknown drivers in their cpus." Because the general population cares so much about understanding what their computers do, right? I don't give a damn about what my car engine does, as long as it gets me from A to B without exploding. Linux adoption will dramatically increase only if this sort of software starts making serious trouble for final users, like refusing to play unlicensed MP3s or deleting your family videos because they were encoded with unlicensed tools. They are not that stupid... yet.

venomsnake 13y ago
Well as TPP showed Hollywood demands are insatiable. So if we have in Windows 10 - Microsoft Genuine Media Advantage Validation that makes the built in antivirus to mark unsigned mp3-s and mp4-s as viruses I won't be surprised. That is assuming you could load your own files on windows machine by that time.
- toyg 13y ago
  s/Windows/Windows, OSX, iOS, Android and ChromeOS/g
svachalek 13y ago
If your gas price changed on where you drove and a handful of government agencies were kept apprised of your location at all times and sometimes the car just refused to take a certain street, you might start having an interest in what's inside your car.

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

mortyseinfeld 13y ago

No kick in the pants because 99.99% of people don't care.

alexwright 13y ago

Unknown drivers? How much do you know about any of the other drivers for any of the hardware? Most NICs and Video chipset drivers now come with a binary blob you have to feed it, it's completely opaque binary microcode. As far as video hardware goes Intels is far more open than the other two vendors of actual useful video hardware anyway.