From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S263782AbTDXSRj (ORCPT ); Thu, 24 Apr 2003 14:17:39 -0400 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id S263785AbTDXSRi (ORCPT ); Thu, 24 Apr 2003 14:17:38 -0400 Received: from mx12.arcor-online.net ([151.189.8.88]:41883 "EHLO mx12.arcor-online.net") by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S263782AbTDXSRh (ORCPT ); Thu, 24 Apr 2003 14:17:37 -0400 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII From: Daniel Phillips To: Linus Torvalds , Kernel Mailing List Subject: Re: Flame Linus to a crisp! Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2003 20:31:06 +0200 X-Mailer: KMail [version 1.3.2] References: In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Message-Id: <20030424182945.7065812EFF1@mx12.arcor-online.net> Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org On Thu 24 Apr 03 05:59, Linus Torvalds wrote: > ...I wanted to bring this out in the open, > because I know there are people who think that signed binaries are an act > of "subversion" (or "perversion") of the GPL, and I wanted to make sure > that people don't live under mis-apprehension that it can't be done. Open source + Linux + DRM could be used to solve the Quake client-side cheating problem: http://catb.org/~esr/writings/quake-cheats.html To join a game, you'd have to be able to prove you're running code that is secure all the way from boot to reboot, where everything from network driver to physics engine is known to be compiled from open source that all participants agree is good. You could call this a "white hat" use of DRM. It's strictly voluntary and nothing mysterious takes over your computer - no spyware, no trojans. Just Linux, drivers, and the game. Granted, this is a pretty theoretical application. Just because of the sheer amount of work needed to put all the pieces in in place, DRM will actually be used a lot more for what is really easy: trampling on fair use rights. But it's not like fair use isn't already being trampled upon, without the aid of DRM. The point of this is that, to be maximally effective, DRM wants to be coupled with open source: with just DRM and no open source, there's no way to achieve the same level of trust. So there is a silver lining, even in this rotten, stinking cloud. Regards, Daniel