𞋴𝛂𝛋𝛆

  • 29 Posts
  • 502 Comments
Joined 3 years ago
Cake day: June 9th, 2023
  • 𞋴𝛂𝛋𝛆@lemmy.worldtoLinux@lemmy.ml•An update on the move from one motherboard to another.English
    31·
    3 months ago
    Just be aware that W11 is secure boot only.

    There is a lot of ambiguous nonsense about this subject by people that lack a fundamental understanding of secure boot. Secure Boot, is not supported by Linux at all. It is part of systems distros build outside of the kernel. These are different for various distros. Fedora does it best IMO, but Ubuntu has an advanced system too. Gentoo has tutorial information about how to setup the system properly yourself.

    The US government also has a handy PDF about setting up secure boot properly. This subject is somewhat complicated by the fact the UEFI bootloader graphical interface standard is only a reference implementation, with no guarantee that it is fully implemented, (especially the case in consumer grade hardware). Last I checked, Gentoo has the only tutorial guide about how to use an application called Keytool to boot directly into the UEFI system, bypassing the GUI implemented on your hardware, and where you are able to set your own keys manually.

    If you choose to try this, some guides will suggest using a better encryption key than the default. The worst that can happen is that the new keys will get rejected and a default will be refreshed. It may seem like your system does not support custom keys. Be sure to try again with the default for UEFI in your bootloader GUI implementation. If it still does not work, you must use Keytool.

    The TPM module is a small physical hardware chip. Inside there is a register that has a secret hardware encryption key hard coded. This secret key is never accessible in software. Instead, this key is used to encrypt new keys, and hash against those keys to verify that whatever software package is untampered with, and to decrypt information outside of the rest of the system using Direct Memory Access (DMA), as in DRAM/system memory. This effectively means some piece of software is able to create secure connections to the outside world using encrypted communications that cannot be read by anything else running on your system.

    As a more tangible example, Google Pixel phones are the only ones with a TPM chip. This TPM chip is how and why Graphene OS exists. They leverage the TPM chip to encrypt the device operating system that can be verified, and they create the secure encrypted communication path to manage Over The Air software updates automatically.

    There are multiple Keys in your UEFI bootloader on your computer. The main key is by the hardware manufacturer. Anyone with this key is able to change all software from UEFI down in your device. These occasionally get leaked or compromised too, and often the issue is never resolved. It is up to you to monitor and update… - as insane as it sounds.

    The next level key below, is the package key for an operating system. It cannot alter UEFI software, but does control anything that boots after. This is typically where the Microsoft key is the default. It means they effectively control what operating system boots. Microsoft has issued what are called shim keys to Ubuntu and Fedora. Last I heard, these keys expired in October 2025 and had to be refreshed or may not have been reissued by M$. This shim was like a pass for these two distros to work under the M$ PKey. In other words, vanilla Ubuntu and Fedora Workstation could just work with Secure Boot enabled.

    All issues in this space have nothing to do with where you put the operating systems on your drives. Stating nonsense about dual booting a partition is the stupid ambiguous misinformation that causes all of the problems. It is irrelevant where the operating systems are placed. Your specific bootloader implementation may be optimised to boot faster by jumping into the first one it finds. That is not the correct way for secure boot to work. It is supposed to check for any bootable code and deplete anything without a signed encryption key. People that do not understand this system, are playing a game of Russian Roulette. There one drive may get registered first in UEFI 99% of the time due to physical hardware PCB design and layout. That one time some random power quality issue shows up due to a power transient or whatnot, suddenly their OS boot entry is deleted.

    The main key, and package keys are the encryption key owners of your hardware. People can literally use these to log into your machine if they have access to these keys. They can install or remove software from this interface. You have the right to take ownership of your machine by setting these yourself. You can set the main key, then you can use the Microsoft system online to get a new package key to run W10 w/SB or W11. You can sign any distro or other bootable code with your main key. Other than the issue of one of the default keys from the manufacturer or Microsoft getting compromised, I think the only vulnerabilities that secure boot protects against are physical access based attacks in terms of 3rd party issues. The system places a lot of trust in the manufacturer and Microsoft, and they are the owners of the hardware that are able to lock you out of, surveil, or theoretically exploit you with stalkerware. In practice, these connections are still using DNS on your network. If you have not disabled or blocked ECH like cloudflare-ech.com, I believe it is possible for a server to make an ECH connection and then create a side channel connection that would not show up on your network at all. Theoretically, I believe Microsoft could use their PKey on your hardware to connect to your hardware through ECH after your machine connects to any of their infrastructure.

    Then the TMP chip becomes insidious and has the potential to create a surveillance state, as it can be used to further encrypt communications. The underlying hardware in all modern computers has another secret operating system too, so it does not need to cross your machine. For Intel, this system is call the Management Engine. In AMD it is the Platform Security Processor. In ARM it is called TrustZone.

    Anyways, all of that is why it is why the Linux kernel does not directly support secure boot, the broader machinery, and the abstracted broader implications of why it matters.

    I have a dual boot w11 partition on the same drive with secure boot and have had this for the last 2 years without ever having an issue. It is practically required to do this if you want to run CUDA stuff. I recommend owning your own hardware whenever possible.

  • 𞋴𝛂𝛋𝛆@lemmy.worldOPtoFediverse@lemmy.world•I think the fediverse needs Android like hardware packagingEnglish
    1·
    3 months ago

    Not in terms of kernel supported encodings and long term kernel support, from what I have seen. I have not looked into this in depth. However, looking at git repo merged pulls, issues raised, and the lack of any consistent hardware commitments or consensus, implies to me that the hardware is very unstable in the long term. When I see any hardware with mostly only base Debian support, it screams that the hardware is on an orphaned kernel and will likely never get to mainline. The same applies to Arch to a lesser degree. Debian has the primary tool chain for bootstrapping and hardware hacking. When it is the primary option supported, I consider the hardware insecure and unsafe to connect to the internet. I’ve seen a few instances where people are talking about the limited forms of encoding support and the incomplete nature of those that do exist. It is far more important to have hardware that will be supported with mainline kernel security updates and is compatible with the majority of encodings. It would be terrible to find out the thing could not support common audio or video codecs. IIRC there was an issue along these lines with the RISC-V PineTab.

    I know the primary goto for RISC-V is SiFive, but I have not seen a goto LTS processor from them in terms of third party consistent use.

    Plus, while more open is mor betterer, RISC-V is not full proof from a proprietary blob either. The ISA addresses the monopolistic tyranny and extortion of players like Intel, but there is nothing preventing the inclusion of 3rd party proprietary module blocks. The entire point is to create an open market for the sale and inclusion of IP blocks that are compatible with an open standard. Nothing about these blocks is required to be open. I don’t know if such a thing could be set to a negative ring more privileged than the kernel, but I expect this to be the case.

  • 𞋴𝛂𝛋𝛆@lemmy.worldOPtoFediverse@lemmy.world•I think the fediverse needs Android like hardware packagingEnglish
    11·
    3 months ago

    Most people’s routers are already up 24/7.

    We should be able to do our own DNS. Who cares if it is on the wider clearweb. You are paying for an IP address with your internet connection. If you are running a server with verified hardware and signed code, all we need is a half dozen nodes mirroring our own DNS. There must be a backup proxy for the few terrible providers that cause issues with IP. The addresses are not static, but they do not change very often. At worse, you hit a manual button to reset or wait 10 minutes before the DNS updates.

  • 𞋴𝛂𝛋𝛆@lemmy.worldOPtoFediverse@lemmy.world•I think the fediverse needs Android like hardware packagingEnglish
    11·
    3 months ago

    It is not about the people that already host. It is about enabling many more by giving them an option to buy a path of least resistance. In exchange, it creates a potential revenue source in a completely untapped demographic. The subscription/donations demographic is like a very unique and niche market. The vast majority of people do not exist within that space. Most people do not have the financial stability to engage like this. It is not that they are unable to accumulate adequate funds, it is that their pay fluctuates over time and their baseline constraints are far more stressful than spending from times of surplus and opportunity. Catering only to those with such surplus and gatekeeping the complexity of self hosting is massively limiting adoption.

    The rule in managing a chain of retail stores is that, no matter how you select products to stock in stores, it is impossible to only select products that will all sell on one platform. How you manage the overburden always determines your long term success. You must employ other platforms and demographics to prioritize the mobility of cash flow.

    Similarly but inverted, this place has a slice of all demographics. Efforts tailored to the various subsets should tap entirely new potential. A fool imagines they can convert the unstable poor*'r* into a reliable stable income source via donations. Someone like myself has means but not a situation that is compatible. If I have some tangible thing to purchase, I can make that happen. I do not have any subscriptions in life for anything at all. Heck, I won’t even shop on any of my devices I use regularly because I only buy what I intend to go looking to purchase with intent. That is not common, but what is common are spontaneous people that need time to align their finances with their desires. That person is likely to dread paying $5 every month compared to $250 in May when they get a couple thousand dollars on a tax return. Expecting the public to float the stability is stupid. That is not how the real world works. Real businesses always float the overhead. I’m talking about how to free the masses to self host everything for the cost of a nice router spent once with no techno leet filter.

  • 𞋴𝛂𝛋𝛆@lemmy.worldtoGreentext@sh.itjust.works•Anon reaches their breaking pointEnglish
    31·
    3 months ago

    Temp setup. Probably some story behind this someone is using as meme bait. The monitor cable is on the outside of the desk. The mouse and keyboard are not anything a Mac user would have. The book as a mouse pad… The hand is from at least a half hour or more later. As initially blood does not look like that. The only mark that would have been a fist is the one on the right. The rest were made by a smaller harder blunt object like the back of a screwdriver handle held in a hand or similar. The force of a hand will distribute like the pattern on the upper right, not the sharper dense fractures with very localized penetration.

  • 𞋴𝛂𝛋𝛆@lemmy.worldOPtoFediverse@lemmy.world•I think the fediverse needs Android like hardware packagingEnglish
    23·
    3 months ago

    Because 99.9% of people will never self host. They would much rather just buy a product that is not setup as a scam. The scam part is less important to most people than the lack of effort required.

    This isn’t a thing to get into for the money. It would be about the FOSS aspect. Doing something like this would not break even for the time and labor involved. It might be worth doing for positive digital neighbors, but I am not at all interested in doing anything for negative or rude people.

    I come from a background of being a buyer for a chain of bike shops where I spent millions of dollars based upon knowledge of how such markets work. The entry level customer is all that really matters. The extra stuff is just to woo them into the store.

    In a place like this, if you engage, you’re actually irrelevant. If you want to target growth, get a lurker to engage for the first time. Getting some random lurkers to buy into the hardware to self host because they care about software freedom is far far more effective than the current ecosystem. When servers are not updated, and people shut down because of administration, it says this is not viable for the average person with a life. So make this easy for the individual. It is such an obvious thing to do.

    The present system is basically like go compile OpenWRT for your router and people whining about how it is not fucking hard. It is not, but most people just do nor care to try it. They just want to buy a device, plug it in, and be done. Half of these devices are on factory original passwords. This is the real scope of what people are capable of and expect. The mismatch is easily solved by packing the fediverse as a device. The alternates are great for the 0.1%. I am not talking about you all. I am talking about something that could go from 0.1% to 5% of the fediverse is self hosted, and likely much larger. The whole endeavor would be like a coop socialist kind of thing from the ground up.