Bonum Certa Men Certa

New Fedora Suffers From UEFI While Desktops Suffer Steep Decline and Sales Drop

Red Hat's launch of Fedora 18 impeded after Christmas sales produce many defective, Microsoft-laden boards

Christmas planet



Summary: Although or because the desktop loses its old relevance, Microsoft makes it abundantly difficult to install non-Windows operating systems

MONOPOLIST EXTRAORDINAIRE Microsoft forces obsolescence by tying hardware to software, adding yet more evidence to its abusive track record. We had a lengthy guest post about this recently. It frightens Microsoft when people control their hardware. Here is another new report about it:



Microsoft is suddenly serious about tackling RT Jailbreak, a slick tool that unlocks Surface tablets using a hack publicised just days earlier.

A spokesperson for Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing Group, tasked with Windows security, told The Register that Redmond is “actively investigating” the RT Jailbreak Tool v1 cooked up last week. Microsoft will take “appropriate action as necessary”, the spokesperson said, but provided no further details.


Let's just say that if you bought hardware from Microsoft, then you can -- as long as you do so responsibly to reduce risk to others -- burn it in a big fire. Or less radically than that, you can install whatever you wish on the disks/memory, but this is becoming hard. Microsoft relies on all sorts of crazy laws like DMCA to try to police what one achieves with hardware one supposedly owns, challenging the very premise that you own something when you buy it (physical product, not the licensing of copyrighted material). This is where customers suffer. It is a serious idealogical war whose purpose is to give all power to the super-powerful (retaining power), always at the expense of the rest. People who do this with their lobbyists rely on apathy or the sense of helplessness which reduces potency among the opposition. Every little would help to challenge the idea that machines are produced and sold in a state which deliberately excudes Linux. And why? Because Microsoft lawyers crafted some outrageous contract and then forced it on OEMs (or bribed them to accept it) so as to make the market less competitive. Legal manoeuvres don't make "fair" competition, they make collusion, extortion, and sometimes corruption (or authorisation, i.e. legalisation, thereof).

Similarly, Microsoft and Apple have been trying to normalise (as in make people perceive as "normal") the practice of patent extortion, "ownership" of algorithmic ideas, "ownership" of shapes like rounded rectangles, or even the shape of an apple.

Dealing today with the subject of UEFI, the new Fedora is still unable to boot on some hardware which is Microsoft-tainted:

Three days before its scheduled release, Fedora 18 still has some issues when confronted with a computer that is running Windows 8 with secure boot enabled, if one goes by the latest testing image available online.

The Fedora project announced on January 9 that it would be releasing Fedora 18 on January 15, US time.

While the image mentioned above can now be installed on a secure boot-enabled machine unlike the last time I tried with the previous testing image, one cannot reclaim space from a hard drive, that has plenty to spare, for installation.

During the installation procedure, once one chooses the option of reclaiming space, one is presented with the hard drives in one's machine.

But after choosing one of these, and then selecting any partition on said disk, the reclaim space option remains greyed out. The only option available is to delete the partition - and this cannot be done unless one wants to blow away Windows 8 altogether.


Jan Wildeboer says: "A Linux user struggles with Windows. No live CD? No package management? Driver issues? Boot loader madness? While this..."

Jan is part of Fedora and the post he promotes in Google+ says: "I called a friend of my friend's I knew had some experience with Windows before. He told me that I could download a free copy off torrent sites, and get a matching "activation key". I don't know what that is, but I thought free is still better than paying $200 for a system I know nothing about.

"So I got an .iso file. I was lucky enough to find a copy that already includes this "activation key" thingy. I decided to boot it and see what it does.

"Unfortunately again, the bootloader did not offer me the live version at all, and went straight on to install the system. The installer was easy enough.... or so I thought until I reached the partitioning software. "What is this thing?" I thought to myself. It didn't recognize any Linux partitions. There was also no option of resizing a partition to make room for Windows.

"Not discouraged by the poorly conceived middle-ages partitioner, I rebooted into GParted Live and quickly resized one of my partitions and made two 10GB partitions. One for user files and one for system files."

So Vista 8 makes it hard to install GNU and Linux in more ways than before. To quote further:

Friend plugged his USB stick in, and... you are guessing. Yes! Windows had to install yet another set of drivers for the new stick. What on earth is wrong with that OS...

We installed a whopping 18MB of codecs, and then the trusty VLC video player, and we enjoyed the show for a while.

It was time to do some work. I'd already come to terms with the fact that Windows didn't have a terminal emulator, didn't come with Firefox, and Vim was somehow not as nice as it was on Linux. But what about mail? I couldn't get Outlook to import my email. I asked around, but nobody was able to help either. Friend finally took off, saying he had better things to do than fiddle with an OS he knows very little about.

Someone has to rewrite all this crap. No LiveCD? No codecs? No software? No package manager?!?!?! Hello, this is like 2013, not 1993. I can't even imagine what would have happened if I had to compile something from source. I have no idea where I would find a compiler...


My tablet can do many things better than Windows desktops, which do not even have basic codecs. Microsoft's partners at Gartner confirm a Windows decline, as does Canalys, which predicts a sharp fall. The growing market of tablets is not working out for Microsoft, which is being left out in the cold; it is being rejected in this market segment, leading to yet another type of downgrade (there are more this month):

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT)’s fiscal second- quarter earnings will be less than previously expected due to weak demand for personal-computers and the company’s new tablet, Surface, according to Brent Thill, an analyst at UBS AG.



This was also covered here and Samsung may be fleeing the market:

Uh-oh, Windows RT, Samsung's got second thoughts



Mike Abary, the head of Samsung's PC and tablet business in the U.S., tells CNET that the company will not be releasing its Windows RT device in the U.S. because retail partners don't see strong demand and because the value proposition for Windows RT isn't clear to consumers.


Windows on phones brings yet more failure to the world of mobility, where BSoDs become a reality and phone users are asked to reinstall:

I have always found BSOD errors on large screens to be amusing, but there was never any WTF factor for me as I had experienced many and knew they are fairly easy to figure out. This is different.

Late on Friday I spotted a tweet from F-Secure CRO Mikko Hypponen that I found absolutely hilarious. He had posted it in the morning, and it essentially it showed a Windows Phone with a standard error message.

Here’s the line that caught his eye: “Insert your Windows installation disc and restart your computer.” Really, and where exactly would one do that?

Check it out for yourself....


A phone asks for a disc. Priceless. Microsoft has become a joke without even intending to.

Recent Techrights' Posts

XBox is Rapidly Turned Into a Slopfarm by Microsoft
Slop isn't about efficiency and saving money
Reboots Should Never be Necessary
"BUT WHAT ABOUT SECURITY!!"
Microsoft's Halloween Documents and systemd, Wayland, Etc.
Maybe one day Wayland will be widespread. Or maybe not.
Changing One's Name Won't Change One's Past
People who have earned a bad reputation are not magically "entitled" to reset
 
The Danes Want GNU/Linux
David Heinemeier Hansson recently moved to GNU/Linux
Cory Doctorow Explains Why Software Freedom Matters, Whereas "Open Source" Misses the Point and Helps Monopolies
It's a very long article
BillPR (EpsteinGate-Bribed NPR) is Turning Into a Partial Slopfarm that Promotes Slop
"I went on a date with a chatbot!"
Two Weeks Passed Since Latest Large Wave of Microsoft Layoffs, More Expected Next Month
Blaming the debt on "AI" is just self-serving storytelling
There's Still Hope for the World Wide Web
Let's hope that the trajectory of the Web won't be leading us to over-reliance on Google, nor will it reward worthless slopfarms
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, July 14, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, July 14, 2025
Gemini Links 15/07/2025: Gemini "Style Sheets" and Switching From Microsoft GitHub to Codeberg
Links for the day
Coming Soon: Another OSI Scandal, This One Implicating Molly de Blanc
OSI has been fairly quiet lately
Outreachy & Debian pregnancy cluster, Meike Reichle evidence
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Again, "Lunduke is Actually Sending His Audience to Attack People"
Microsoft Lunduke is not trying to "protect" Linux
One of the Most Hilarious Things About the Microsoft SLAPPs
It's so ridiculous
Financial Support for the Free Software Foundation or the GNU Project
The FSF has extended until Friday its fund-raising campaign
Illegally Hiding (or Demanding Secrecy Around) Illegal Requests or Attempts at Extortion
unlawful communications like threats
Gemini Links 14/07/2025: BOFH Archive, Updating Old Palm PDAS, and Nginx vs Slop Bots
Links for the day
Ubuntu is Becoming GAFAM-Like
What does that say about Canonical and Ubuntu?
Slopfarms Which Take Real Articles About GNU/Linux and Turn Them Into Copycats Which Are False
Even before the LLM hype those were quite common
The Firm That Picks on Techrights is Accustomed to Working With Criminals
Techrights never did anything illegal. So why is it being picked on by people who work with criminals?
Microsoft Said the Mass Layoffs Were for "Investment" in "AI", But It's Also Laying Off the "AI" and "Copilot" Staff
Months ago we showed many so-called "AI" people were getting the boot and this time it's the same
DryDeadFish is Dead, Long Live DryDeadFish
We kept checking, hoping it can recover from some temporary technical issue
For Quite Some Time Already Microsoft Attracts Crackpots, Scams, and More
Occasionally we talk about the situation at IBM as there are many parallels
Links 14/07/2025: Chatbots Broken Again, McHire LLM Shows Limits of the Hype
Links for the day
People Who Assault Women Are Not Victims of "Distress"
It seems like an American tradition. In a country with almost 50 presidents, not even one was a female.
Slashdot Media Turned Linux Journal Into a Slopfarm and Now Slashdot Actively Promotes Anti-Linux Slopfarms
Yes, "no-nonsense" apparently means actual nonsense
Adoption of Gemini Protocol Still Growing
Gemini Protocol is being obscured by the media - it doesn't help that Google 'hijacked' the word "Gemini" - but people still manage to find out about it, download a client, and use it
Links 14/07/2025: Arresting Photographers, Threats to Revoke US Citizenship Over Criticism
Links for the day
More EPO Leaks on the Way
We hope that Mr. Rowan will actually try to refute what we say and show, not merely point the finger at the messengers
Decommodification is a Corporate Strategy Against Communities
systemd is led by Microsoft and hosted by Microsoft
copyleft.org 'Hijacked' by the People Who Attack the Person Who Created Copyleft
So far there's nothing "tasteless" in copyleft.org, but that can change at any time in the future
Asking People to Take Down Articles and Videos Only Makes These More Popular and "Viral"
If you do something bad, one of the worst things you can possibly do it try to silence those who speak about it
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, July 13, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, July 13, 2025
Two-Thirds Towards FSF Goal, Richard Stallman to Give Talks in Europe
There are 67 left before reaching the target
Brett Wilson LLP "Takes it Personal" (Character Assassination, Not Professionalism). Everybody Can See That.
On behalf of violent men
Gemini Links 14/07/2025: Politicised Tech and "Leaving GitHub"
Links for the day
Pissing Contests and Pissing Off Everyone
people who came from Microsoft are trying to vex and divide the community
Microsoft Repeats the Mistakes Made by the EPO After We Exposed a Major Microsoft/EPO Scandal 10 Years Ago
That scandal was all over the media, not just in English
The Demise of LLMs
We've just checked BetaNews again. They've dropped all the slop and went back to human authors.
Gemini Links 13/07/2025: Sonpo Museum of Art and FCEUX
Links for the day
Links 13/07/2025: UnitedHealth's Censorship Campaign, Australia Wary of China
Links for the day
Firing Away With Nonsense
Or fighting fire with fire
Links 13/07/2025: Climate Crisis, GAFAM Poisoning the Water
Links for the day
Turns Out LLMs for Code Don't Save Time and Don't Improve Quality
Neither legal nor useful
The Microsofters Will Have an Obligation to Compensate Us
This story isn't just about Microsoft. It's also about corruption, there are many women victims, there is abject "abuse of process", and many more scandals to be illuminated in years to come.
Reproducing at the EPO Instead of Producing Monopolies for Foreign Monopolies With Their Price-Fixing Cartels
Does the EPO recognise the need of well-educated Europeans to bear kids?
Valnet Inc. Dominates Real (Not LLM Slop) GNU/Linux Coverage in 2025
And likely in prior years, too
Free Software Foundation (FSF) Fund Raiser Goes on
Later this month we'll expose another OSI scandal
EPO Staff Representatives Issue a Warning About Staff's Health and Inadequate Care
Even the EPO's own stakeholders (money sources) are openly protesting against what the EPO became
Links 13/07/2025: Partly Assorted News From Deutsche Welle and CBC
Links for the day
Gemini Links 13/07/2025: Board Games and Battle Styles
Gemini Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 12, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, July 12, 2025