Buying from System76 or Slimbook?

[Linux for blind general discussion]

There is, as far as I know, no way to disable secure boot as a blind 
user without sighted help.

Warm regards,

Brandt Steenkamp

Sent using Thunderbird from Windows 11

On 2022/06/10 16:15, Linux for blind general discussion wrote:
> hi
> to the best of my knowledge the standard is not accepted.
> some vendors  eg. acer dont actually allow secure boot to be disabled.
>
> the bios is inaccessible, its a while since i did stuff on x86 platforms so if this is now not the case its new on me.
> so how does a blind person disable secure boot?
>
> yes u can obviously boot anything in a secure boot, but u got to stick keys in the nvram to do it.
>   this being the whole point as it were.
> thus if  u cannot disable secure boot, ucant install any distro or whatever thats not ms signed.
> this is mostof them.
> is there a way for blind users to disable secure boot then?
>
> yes what u say about speakup is the problem.
> norally u can just rebuild the kernel at worst, and re-install speakup.
> eg. i do this with armbian.
> and also on the ubuntu used by hard kernel for the odroid n2.
> with a secure boot, where the kernel is signed by ms u cannot do this, since u cant insert modules, not signed.
>
> i assume this is also a problem with fedora, who the last of there distros i used, which was 23, didnt put speakup in by default.
>
> so if u cannot disable secure boot either from being unable to access the bios.
> or the vendors dont allow it to be disabled,
>
> u
> a) cannot install many linux distros,
> and
> b) cannot install modules eg. speakup if not provided.
>
> so whilst i apologise for this going way off the original question.
> if u got a way to disable secure boot, without the bios which is totally inaccessible.
>   
> it would be very handy to know!
>
> best regards
> neil foster
>
>> I've done some research, and according to the standards set when MS
>> reliesed Windows 8 and Secure boot became a thing, the EFI Bios have
>> to have a way to disable Secure boot.
>>
>>
>> I know that both Ubuntu and Fedora can function in a secure boot
>> environment. It is possible to make other Distros do the same, though
>> it's apparently a royal pain to do.
>>
>> There are four major reasons for me wanting to use Fedora in place of
>> Ubuntu.
>>
>> * Firstly, Ubuntu's over reliance on snapd, something I really, really
>>    don't appreciate.
>> * Secondly, the fact that Fedora has a vanilla implementation of
>>    Gnome, where as on the other hand Gnome in Ubuntu is referred to as
>>    FrankenGnome by quite a few.
>> * Reason 3 is the fact that Ubuntu removed speakup from their kernel,
>>    obviously something that should be anathema to a blind console user.
>> * Reason 4 is probably petty of me, but I just don't really like
>>    'apt-get'. 'dnf' is just easier to use, and less work overall.
>>
>> Ok, maybe I could just stick to Ubuntu, and I'll probably do so for the foreseeable future. Me being lazy is a factor.
>> Warm regards,
>>
>> Brandt Steenkamp
>>
>> Sent using Thunderbird from Windows 11
>>
>> On 2022/06/09 16:19, Linux for blind general discussion wrote:
>>> hi, i realise this is veering off the question originally asked but,
>>>
>>> yes canonical aka ubuntu got a kernel signed by ms so it uses the keys already in the nvram.
>>>    a standard linux distro doesnt last i heard and u cannot boot with secure boot.
>>> unless u add the keys for it yourself.
>>> archlinux definitely wont.
>>>
>>> in other words for most linux distros u got to switch secure boot off instal the os, then u can enable secure boot if u want to.
>>> this isnt always possible eg. i think acer dont allow it.
>>> even if u can access the bios that is!
>>>
>>> things do change fast so my information might be out of date in which case apologies,
>>> but i'd check first before parting with dough...
>>>
>>> do u mind if i ask y u want to use fedora?
>>> ubuntu use strong stack protection, so adding extra modules eg speakup can be a bit of pita, on sbc and so on.
>>> but apart from the package managers
>>> yum/dnf vs apt-get and et al, they're both much the same thing.
>>>
>>> good luck with it any which road.
>>> regards
>>> neil foster
>>>
>>>> Hi,
>>>>
>>>> I am currently running a dual boot setup with Ubuntu and Windows 11
>>>> both booting fine from secure boot.
>>>>
>>>> I was thinking about replacing Ubuntu with Fedora, but if it ain't
>>>> broke, don't fix it.
>>>>
>>>> Warm regards,
>>>>
>>>> Brandt Steenkamp
>>>>
>>>> Sent using Thunderbird on Ubuntu
>>>>
>>>> On 2022/06/09 01:23, Linux for blind general discussion wrote:
>>>>> apologies if this isnt relevant, but similar idea though different supplier.
>>>>> got a ryzen 3400g based desktop from ccl over here in the uk.
>>>>> installed archlinux on it.
>>>>> as long as its not secure boot, linux distros will nowadays instal on most x86-64 based systems.
>>>>> only glitch i had was soundcard was card1 since hdmi was card0, was a bit ugg.
>>>>> had to ssh in and sort it.
>>>>>
>>>>> get cheap hdmi monitor and then u can ocr it if it hangs and thers no sign of life.
>>>>> same as  u can ocr a screen capture on a vm.
>>>>>
>>>>> anybody who sells pc without os should be ok, just if its secure boot it can be difficult/impossible.
>>>>>
>>>>> ta
>>>>> neil foster
>>>>>> I purchased a computer from System76 and then installed Slint on my own. They were very fast and kept me updated every step of the process.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Ashley Breger
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On May 31, 2022, at 1:05 PM, Linux for blind general discussion<blinux-list at redhat.com>  wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Hi all,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> For future considderation, which is the better buying experience, System76.com, Slimbook.es, puri.sm, or any other specialist Linux computer building company?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I have never actually purchased a Linux first device, it's always something running Winbloat, unfortunately needed for making my living, but that's what VM's is for.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> If anyone has bought a machine from any of the Linux specialist companies, please let us know about your buying experience. I, for one am curious.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> -- 
>>>>>>> Warm regards,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Brandt Steenkamp
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Sent using Thunderbird from the Slint laptop
>>>>>>>
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