Re:Lennart Poettering, Christian Brauner founded a new company
by cwillu on Tuesday January 27, 2026 @03:23PM
(#46785985)
It very clearly is restrictive of software freedom. I've never suffered from an evil maid breaking into my house to access my computer, but I've _very_ frequently suffered from corporations trying to prevent me from doing what I wish with my own things. We need to push back on this notion that this sort of thing was _ever_ for the end-user's benefit, because it's not.
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Re:Lennart Poettering, Christian Brauner founded a new company
by avadodin on Tuesday January 27, 2026 @06:57PM
(#46788992)
To play devil's advocate, I don't think most people would be fine with their car ramming into a military base after an unfriendly firmware update.
However, I agree that the risks to individuals and their freedoms stemming from these technologies outweigh the benefits in most cases.
Re:Lennart Poettering, Christian Brauner founded a new company
by rpcope1 on Tuesday January 27, 2026 @07:22PM
(#46789252)
The better question then is why the actual f** can an OTA firmware update touch anything in the steering or powertrain of the car, or why do I even need a computer that's connected to anything, and one which does more than just make sure I get the right amount of fuel and spark, or why on earth do people tolerate this sort of insanity.
Re:Lennart Poettering, Christian Brauner founded a new company
by hsbauauvhabzb on Wednesday January 28, 2026 @12:54AM
(#46791578)
If a malicious update can be pushed because of some failure in the signature verification checks (which already exist), what makes you think the threat actor won’t have access to signing keys?
This is not what attestation is even seeking to solve.
Re:Lennart Poettering, Christian Brauner founded a new company
by avadodin on Wednesday January 28, 2026 @06:31PM
(#46803309)
Firmware upgrades don't need to use the same protocols. Without secure boot any applet can take a security hole escalate and persist until you take a trip to a zone of interest.
With secure-boot+attestation, the vendors can choose not to let you download the latest map data, report you to the authorities, etc.
Why do people take DA as "Hail Satan" anyways.
Re:Lennart Poettering, Christian Brauner founded a new company
by hsbauauvhabzb on Thursday January 29, 2026 @03:23AM
(#46807273)
If this was about stopping malware, it wouldn’t be targeting Linux endpoints.
Re:Lennart Poettering, Christian Brauner founded a new company
by cwillu on Thursday January 29, 2026 @08:15AM
(#46809798)
“With secure-boot+attestation, the vendors can choose not to let you download the latest map data, report you to the authorities”
As far as I'm concerned, you just conceded the argument.
Re:Lennart Poettering, Christian Brauner founded a new company
by Gigachad on Wednesday January 28, 2026 @01:52AM
(#46791902)
Remote attestation seems more useful for server hosts to let VPS users verify the server hasn’t been tampered with.
Re:Lennart Poettering, Christian Brauner founded a new company
by UltraSane on Wednesday January 28, 2026 @03:35AM
(#46792589)
YOU can use remote attestation to verify a remote server you are paying for hasn't been tampered with.
Re:Lennart Poettering, Christian Brauner founded a new company
by direwolf20 on Wednesday January 28, 2026 @01:20PM
(#46799437)
This happens much less frequently than the manufacturer of "my" computing device verifies that I haven't tampered with it. On net, it's a wholesale destruction of user freedom.
Re:Lennart Poettering, Christian Brauner founded a new company
by UltraSane on Wednesday January 28, 2026 @10:39PM
(#46805525)
"it's a wholesale destruction of user freedom." This is ridiculously hyperbolic language for what are basically fancy digital signatures. There is nothing stopping you from using two different systems, one that passes attestation and one that doesn't.