Profile
Matthew Garrett
About Matthew
Active Entries
- 1: TVs are all awful
- 2: More in the series of bizarre UEFI bugs
- 3: Samsung laptop bug is not Linux specific
- 4: Playing with Thunderbolt under Linux on Apple hardware
- 5: A short introduction to TPMs
- 6: Rebooting
- 7: Update on leaked UEFI signing keys - probably no significant risk
- 8: Leaked UEFI signing keys
- 9: Secure Boot and Restricted Boot.
- 10: The current state of UEFI and Linux
Expand Cut Tags
No cut tags
no subject
Date: 2012-06-02 01:02 am (UTC)From http://www.gnu.org/licenses/quick-guide-g
"Tivoization: Some companies have created various different kinds of devices that run GPLed software, and then rigged the hardware so that they can change the software that's running, but you cannot. If a device can run arbitrary software, it's a general-purpose computer, and its owner should control what it does. When a device thwarts you from doing that, we call that tivoization."
And:
"Protecting Your Right to Tinker
Tivoization is a dangerous attempt to curtail users' freedom: the right to modify your software will become meaningless if none of your computers let you do it. GPLv3 stops tivoization by requiring the distributor to provide you with whatever information or data is necessary to install modified software on the device. This may be as simple as a set of instructions, or it may include special data such as cryptographic keys or information about how to bypass an integrity check in the hardware. It will depend on how the hardware was designed—but no matter what information you need, you must be able to get it.
This requirement is limited in scope. Distributors are still allowed to use cryptographic keys for any purpose, and they'll only be required to disclose a key if you need it to modify GPLed software on the device they gave you. The GNU Project itself uses GnuPG to prove the integrity of all the software on its FTP site, and measures like that are beneficial to users. GPLv3 does not stop people from using cryptography; we wouldn't want it to. It only stops people from taking away the rights that the license provides you—whether through patent law, technology, or any other means."