My concern for Slackware Linux (and SalixOS by association).

[Dennola4]

Hello all,

I have been a happy SalixOS user pretty much since its inception, and a happy Slackware user for years before that. Tonight I began peeking into ArchLinux, a distro I have always been curious about, and rather than getting seduced by "the Arch Way" I found myself reminded how much I like "the Slack Way". So I Googled "the Slackware Way" and happened upon this article:

http://www.itworld.com/it-managementstr ... -premature

As a user who appreciates Slackware (upon whose shoulders our favorite distro is built) I feel an urgent need visit the Slackware Store and purchase a few items to show solidarity. SalixOS users are Slackware users, and I think it's a good idea to show support by picking up a shirt, baseball cap, or whatever. If you agree, here's the link:

http://store.slackware.com/cgi-bin/stor ... I&mv_pc=61

Hopefully SalixOS forum moderators will agree and won't find this post in poor taste.

Dennis in New Orleans

[thenktor]

It has been argued about Slackware's death as long as I can remember But of course it is a good idea to spend some money for it. AFAIK Slackware is Pat's only income.
Furthermore don't hestitate to donate something for us. Servers cost money.

[Dennola4]

Hey thenktor,

I have been wanting a way to donate to SalixOS since back when I posted this:

http://www.salixos.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=1647

I just bought $85.00 (US) worth of Slackware merch last night and would happily do the same if SalixOS had a store. Otherwise, if there is a way to donate directly, please inform how to go about it.

Thanks.

[Shador]

The only way I do know about for Salix is through duckduckgo. For all searches with duckduckgo that contain a t=salix GET request a share of the income generated by that search (50% I think) goes to Salix. The intended use are afaik servers but for now that wasn't much.
That's the URL: https://duckduckgo.com/?t=salix

[Dennola4]

Got it.

I use Opera as my primary browser, so for anyone else who wants to do this, simply:

1) go to: https://duckduckgo.com/?t=salix
2) right-click in the search field on the DuckDuckGo page, and choose "create search" from the drop-down menu
3) in the pop-up box, check both "use as default search engine" and "use as Speed Dial engine".

For Firefox there's an extra step or two:

1) install the Add to Search Bar extension from Mozilla: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefo ... earch-bar/
2) restart Firefox
3) go to: https://duckduckgo.com/?t=salix
4) right-click in the search field on the DuckDuckGo page, and choose "add to search bar" from the drop-down menu
5) in the Firefox search bar, click the drop-down menu (next to the DDG icon) and choose "manage search engines"
6) choose DuckDuckGo and move it up to the top, making it your priority search engine.

Note: If this is the only means for SalixOS to receive support from its loyal users, you might want to copy this and paste it as a sticky announcement.... titled something like: "Help support SalixOS without spending a dime."

Take care.

[gapan]

Furthermore don't hestitate to donate something for us. Servers cost money.

Yeah, small problem with that. We don't really have a "donate" button.

[witek]

The real danger might be elsewhere. Fedora is going to pay to get the bootloader signed with a Microsoft key. WTF?
http://mjg59.dreamwidth.org/12368.html

[Dennola4]

The real danger might be elsewhere. Fedora is going to pay to get the bootloader signed with a Microsoft key. WTF?
http://mjg59.dreamwidth.org/12368.html

Wait. So am I misunderstanding what I'm reading, or does this article suggest that future PCs sold with MS Windows pre-installed (thus bearing a MS logo) will disallow Linux-based OSes to run on them?

Please tell me I misunderstood the article.



EDIT: Nevermind, answered my own question: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/open-source/m ... 8-pcs/9589

[Shador]

The real danger might be elsewhere. Fedora is going to pay to get the bootloader signed with a Microsoft key. WTF?
http://mjg59.dreamwidth.org/12368.html

Wait. So am I misunderstanding what I'm reading, or does this article suggest that future PCs sold with MS Windows pre-installed (thus bearing a MS logo) will disallow Linux-based OSes to run on them?

Please tell me I misunderstood the article.



EDIT: Nevermind, answered my own question: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/open-source/m ... 8-pcs/9589

No, it's a one-time fee which is needed for the bootloader shipped by any entity to become signed by Microsoft (actually VeriSign is asking for the money here). Apart from that theoretically there's the possibility to set up an entity that signs software too given vendors distribute it's certificate with hardware commonly. In any case it seems like people have agreed to offer a possibility to disable that functionality. So the system doesn't anymore care about key validity and signing.

Why this whole thing? The idea is that the firmware checks the bootloader it loads to be sure its trusted. That trusted bootloader could in turn verfiy that the kernel and whatever else it loads, the kernel could verify any applications and so on. In the end you can guarantee a system that only runs valid, trusted code (no malware, ...) as long as the signing key is not compromised or misused. So much for the theory. Practically the amount of software that can be signed is quite limited (expect for very special applications. For example all core system components like kernel, bootloader, drivers/modules, core software, ...

[deja69]

The answer is in the clouds

http://www.esg-global.com/blogs/symante ... -security/

PS. Nobody is particularly rich during this recession,but small regular subscriptions make a heap of difference...
especially supporting things we feel are cool

Seems the ones with the most resources always seem to have the most unhealthy motivations
But the answer is with the consumer..if you do not exercise your choice..there will come a time you will have no choice.