Read  about  Microsoft's latest news regarding UEFI Secure Boot. Soon,
  you won't be able anymore to turn it off.

  Ahhh, man, why would they do that? What's that good for?

  Then my reality bubble burst. I'm using GNU/Linux (and a  little  BSD)
  for  so  long  now  that  I forgot that there's still people out there
  using Windows. I really forgot that. I have  so  little  contact  with
  Microsoft  and  Windows  that  it's so easy to just forget they exist.
  Simple as that.

  But, why does Microsoft want to lock Linux users out? I mean, what  do
  they  expect  us  to  do?  Start  using Windows again? Sure, a certain
  percentage will do that, but I'm pretty convinced that this is not  an
  option  for  the  majority.  So  why  bother? Microsoft won't gain new
  customers. If anything, they'll piss people off.

  It'll be interesting to see what Apple will be doing. Do they kick out
  Linux  users  as  well? Because if they don't, then I'm very sure that
  quite a few Linux users will buy Apple hardware -- just to  erase  Mac
  OS and install Linux.

  I  have  little knowledge about the asian and african market. But from
  my "western" perspective, Microsoft's move is just plain stupid.


                           ____________________


  That being said, I recently ordered a Tuxedo Notebook[1].   I  already
  use one of these at work, so I know they're good. And with that Secure
  Boot crap in mind, I think it's very important  to  support  companies
  who  build  computers  explicitly  for GNU/Linux. Don't buy stuff that
  will "most likely" work with Linux -- instead, buy something  that  is
  *intended* to work with Linux.

  Companies  like  Dell  or  Lenovo  work  closely  with Microsoft. They
  recommend using Windows. They build their hardware  to  be  used  with
  Windows.  The fact that some hardware somehow works with Linux as well
  (YMMV) is just a bonus for them. Any minute, they can decide  to  drop
  any kind of "Linux support". You don't want to support that.


                           ____________________


  Well,  okay, the question is: What is Microsoft's plan for the next 20
  years? What's their vision? Are they planning to sell "PC boxes"  that
  are  similar  to  today's consoles? A piece of hardware that runs only
  proprietary commercial software, communicating using only  proprietary
  protocols?  No  freedom  of choice regarding anything? No way to write
  your own programs in C? Just "buy this, buy that, shut up"?

  Most likely. For me, that's utterly boring. Not interested.  Have  fun
  doing that, Microsoft.

  Of  course,  most non-nerdy people will still buy that. I guess that's
  the whole point. 20 years ago,  only  nerds  used  computers,  so  big
  companies  had to care about them. Today, both nerds and non-nerds use
  them. 20 years from now, maybe only the non-nerds will continue to use
  "standard  computers"  --  the  ones  sold  by Apple and Microsoft and
  probably Google. What are the nerds going to do?  I  don't  know.  But
  we'll find a way to keep ourselves entertained. :-)

  Still, what I don't understand is: Why lock us out? I could understand
  if they simply didn't care about us. But they're actively  locking  us
  out, like we're some kind of threat. We're not. Linux won't ever reach
  The Desktop  because  it's  software  made  by  nerds  for  nerds  (or
  servers).   The big companies can safely ignore us. They don't need to
  lock us out.  See, it's extra work for them. They have to  spend  time
  and  money  implementing  all  that  stuff,  they  have  to design new
  hardware, they have to negotiate  with  hardware  manufacturers,  they
  have to risk being sued, and so on. Jesus, I don't get it.

  Maybe I'm a naive idiot. I have no idea.

  Or  maybe  it  is  indeed  a stupid move that will lead to Microsoft's
  bankruptcy. I seriously have no idea.

  ____________________

  1. http://www.tuxedocomputers.com/