The UEFI 9/11 - Part IV - External Interference
Clock shows 11 minutes to 11
More Microsoft layoffs are expected this month (it doesn't seem to be fabricated; these are leaks; there's no actual rebuttal/refutation yet), but on the second week of this month we also expect many GNU/Linux PCs to refuse to boot, instead moaning about an expired Microsoft certificate. The Microsofters who did this don't deny this will cause problems. And since they pushed 'secure boot' (in UEFI) into Linux, we can hold them accountable verbally if not legally. For well over a decade they abused the people who merely pointed out what would happen; they libeled and trolled, even stalked and likely engaged in cybercrimes, against them and their families. Indeed, deeply irritated that someone talks about these issues, factually and politely (and vindicated more and more over time), they got more aggressive, siccing Microsoft ogres and misogynists [1, 2] at us (us as in my family members as well! [1, 2]). The GNU/Linux community should be deeply disgusted by this.
In Part I we introduced the issues in simple terms, in Part II we focused on the attacks on people who merely talked about these issues, and Part III primarily tied things together. Last month we also published: "The UEFI Restricted Boot 'Time Bomb' is About to Go Off in a Few Weeks"
Now that IBM is in control of GNOME we can examine the forces at play; "ideally Canonical would step in and intervene," an associate said, but instead it followed whatever Red Hat did on this (in 2012) and we know that IBM/GNOME actively pushed for this fiasco as recently as 2022. "Microsoft is inside IBM these days," one reader told us yesterday. The old guard who learned their lessons and experiments the OS/2 copyright rug pull are all gone. Now Bill's sycophants are in charge and selling out IBM from the inside..."
A day earlier he asked: "Is IBM still part of Microsoft's Business Software Alliance (BSA)?
15 years ago we got a scoop on this from inside Red Hat; IBM had quietly left BSA and we were first to report this. "Did they leave only on paper though?" asked the reader. "They act as if they are still marketing Microsoft all the time."
Indeed, Red Hat - now part IBM - was the main force (other than Microsoft and Intel) pushing for 'secure' ('Time Bomb') boot in 2012. They pressured Linus Torvalds over this like a pack of hyenas [1, 2] (thankfully the mailing lists document all this). There were external pressures, including so-called 'cancel culture' (weaponised against Torvalds at the time).
Those were hostile forces.
We recognise some people will see the title "UEFI 9/11" and start thinking along the lines of politics or cranks. But, no... we didn't choose that date. "Currently," LWN reports, "shim is signed with a Microsoft key from 2011 that expires on September 11."
Do not overlook the irony of the date; it's almost like it is intentional (scheduled for "Thursday" - another irony, a "Linux 9/11"... but it impacts other operating systems as well, so we don't say "Linux 9/11").
The 1973 Chilean coup d'état happened that day/date. Maybe add to this page a key/certificate expiring. If they had planned this for years (14 years), very well knowing in advance the expiry date (it's not happening out of the blue; they set the date), then calling it a "time bomb" seems appropriate. It was all along slated for 9/11 this year - overlapping the Pinochet coup [1, 2] as if to make a statement about external interference. To be clear, Declassified UK has documents which expose the UK’s involvement in Pinochet’s 1973 coup, so the external 'satellite-like' role resembles Microsoft and IBM.
As for Canonical, it's nowadays working for GAFAM and is connected to the British military [1, 2]. They all seem to be playing a role in crushing Software Freedom and self-determination for users. █