404 error Secure Boot problem not found

Back in October I posted about a problem one of the Ubuntu Oregon LoCo members was having and he specifically e-mailed me and requested I share it that way he could potentially get some help on the issue and start a discussion.

Basically the individual was trying to install Kubuntu 11.10 on a HP device and he encountered some issues and after contacting HP he eventually somehow got bounced to a HP Business Tech who asserted that the issue was due to UEFI.

After posting that blog post it went viral the next day with literally epic re-sharing and even the story being re-told over and over on every imaginable social network and Linux site (exaggeration but you get the point). Many people misconstrued my post as an attempt to cause panic or FUD over “Secure Boot” yet my blog post never mentioned Secure Boot which is different that UEFI.

Today I noticed Ed Bott of ZDNet wrote up an article discussing Secure Boot and discussed how FUD is being spread about it and naturally my blog post got linked to since it somehow become the center of controversial Secure Boot discussion. I tweeted to @EdBott to ask why I was yet again put into the FUD mix when I never so much as mentioned it in my blog post and his response was that essentially others misinterpreted my blog post and were therefore spreading FUD.

Notably, I think at this point the person who had the original issue is being helped or at the very least the matter is being addressed. It is my hope that this post will clarify things and it was actually suggested that I post again so that things are a bit more clear if they were not the first time round.

Canonical and Redhat have put together a nice White Paper titled “Secure Boot impact on Linux” which I highly suggest as a read for those who wan’t a more authoritative look at any possible impact.