I live in a 1st world country and have lots of new computers that this
change would not affect. However I still have some older computers that
fall outside the UEFI range and use only BIOS. I would still like to
keep these computers running and up to date so that they are secure and
have the most recent fixes. I also know many people who only have access
to 2nd or 3rd hand computers.
I do have a strong opinion and I say that it is too early to drop BIOS
support. There will probably be BIOS-only computers out there for years.
And one of the things I tell people when getting them to try Linux is
that it can extend the useful lives of those really old computers.
Thanks for considering my opinion.
--
*********************************************************
David P. Both, RHCE
He/Him/His
*********************************************************
www.both.org - My personal web site
www.Linux-Databook.info - Home of the DataBook for Linux
DataBook is a Registered Trademark of David Both
*********************************************************
The value of any software lies in its usefulness
not in its price.
— Linus Torvalds
*********************************************************
On Wed, 6 Apr 2022, JT wrote:
Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2022 08:50:18
From: JT <j...@obs-sec.com>
Reply-To: Development discussions related to Fedora
<devel@lists.fedoraproject.org>
To: Development discussions related to Fedora <devel@lists.fedoraproject.org>
Cc: laolux laolux <lao...@rocketmail.com>
Subject: Re: F37 Change: Deprecate Legacy BIOS (System-Wide Change proposal)
On Wed, Apr 6, 2022 at 4:06 AM laolux laolux via devel <
devel@lists.fedoraproject.org> wrote:
I have no strong opinion on this, and not much say anyways, but I thought
I could share my little piece of info.
My currently one and only computer is a 2012 MSI GE60 0ND, with a core
i7-3630QM, 16GB RAM and retrofitted with a SSD.
So I would say fast enough for using Fedora. At least according to
notebookcheck.com the CPU is supposed to be faster than a rather recent
Core i3-1110G4, which is still being used in new notebooks in 2022.
Unfortunately it only supports legacy BIOS, and not UEFI.
Thus I do not like the wording of the change proposal.
Fedora already requires a 2GHz dual core CPU at minimum (and therefore
mandates that machines must have been made after 2006). Like the
already accepted Fedora 37 change to retire ARMv7 support, the
hardware targeted tends to be rather underpowered by today’s
standards, and the world has moved on from it. Intel stopped shipping
the last vestiges of BIOS support in 2020 (as have other vendors, and
Apple and Microsoft), so this is clearly the way things are heading -
and therefore aligns with Fedora’s “First” objective.
This seems to imply that only rather old and weak hardware would be
affected, when clearly the cutoff is (at maximum) only 10 years back.
Please don't get me wrong, I am perfectly fine about Fedora dropping "old"
hardware, and I am willing to throw away my still working notebook,
producing a little bit electronic waste when the time comes. But I think
one should be more open and explicit about it.
At the risk of being 'that guy' it's worth pointing out that not everyone
lives in a 1st world country and has access to cheap powerful hardware. I
have good friends in Namibia and Cote d'Ivoire who are still using Fedora
on Core2Duo systems from pre 2010, because the machines are still perfectly
functional and do what they need them to do.
I realize some will have the attitude of "they can just not upgrade and
keep using their old Fedora versions". Ok, that's a possible solution,
except that Fedora versions get EOL'd pretty quickly, so we'd basically be
taking the stance of 'buy new hardware if you want updates'.
Fedora has made a big deal about being considered a "Digital Public Good";
and we are right to be proud of that. But if we're going to be proud of
that, let's not also decide to screw over areas that are not as
economically strong as where most of us are lucky enough to live. It's
kind of arrogant of us to expect that everyone who uses Fedora is
financially able to go out and replace their hardware all the time even
when there's nothing wrong with it.
Are we only making Fedora for those with lots of spare money or is Fedora
for everyone?
/end being that guy
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