Bonum Certa Men Certa

My Disagreement With the FSF Over UEFI 'Secure Boot'

UEFI logo with monopoly



Summary: The FSF gives an award for work on embracing 'secure boot', whereas the better option -- in my own personal opinion -- is to altogether boycott UEFI, for a variety of separate reasons

IT IS NOT often that I get to say this, but I disagree with the FSF's decision to grant Matthew Garrett an award for work on UEFI. Not only has he acted as a Microsoft apologist (like Miguel de Icaza, who had also received an FSF award) but he also smeared Linux developers whom he did not agree with. Not only has he made Microsoft's case (and Intel's patents) stronger but he also made regulatory actions against UEFI 'secure boot' more complicated.



A world with UEFI 'secure boot' is a world less secure. We need to shun, boycott and altogether avoid UEFI, not find ways to embrace it. People who help popularise or lead us to acceptance of 'secure boot' are doing a disservice -- not a service -- to the principle of people controlling their own computing. That last point is what distinguishes my personal position from the FSF's (collectively).

Related/contextual items from the news:


  1. Matthew Garrett, GNOME Foundation's Outreach Program for Women are Free Software Award winners


  2. Matthew Garett, Outreach Program for Women awarded Free Software Awards 2014


Recent Techrights' Posts

Links 01/11/2025: Microsoft Distributes Malware Again, Radio Free Asia Shut Down by Dictator
Links for the day
November is Here, Anniversary Party This Coming Friday
Expect this site to return to its normal publication pace either by tomorrow or Monday
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, October 31, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, October 31, 2025
Gemini Links 01/11/2025: Synergetic Disinformation and Software Maintenance
Links for the day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, October 30, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, October 30, 2025
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, October 29, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, October 29, 2025
Slopwatch: Brian Fagioli, Google News, and Other LLM Slopfarms
Why does Google News keep promoting these fake articles?
Links 29/10/2025: Amazon Kept "Data Center Water Use Secret", "Abuse of Power" Against Media
Links for the day
Gemini Links 29/10/2025: "My Hardware Specs" and "Goodbye Debian…"
Links for the day
EPO Cocainegate: Feedback and Clarifications
Part III will come out soon
Links 29/10/2025: "US Military Is Destroying the Planet Beyond Imagination" and Boat Strikes Deemed Unlawful
Links for the day
Quality Comes First (Techrights Search)
It's generally working already, but we wish to polish it some more
Techrights Party Countdown
Late next week we'll be holding a party near our home
European Parliament and Council Directive on Privacy is Vanishing
"edited / censored some time more recently"