The Linux kernel and digital rights management

The Linux kernel and digital rights management

One potential DRM problem for Linux users is to make the market even less friendly to us. Nowadays it is already difficult buy a PC for installing Linux on it. In many places you are forced to buy one with a pre-installed Microsoft OS - paying for something that you don't use. Moreover, it is likely that the PC includes some windows-only hardware that you are forced to buy anyway.

If future PCs will only boot DRM-enabled kernels, installing Linux will only be possible by people capable to build their own PC, including burning a DRM-free BIOS chip with something downloaded from the Net. And good-bye to the already extremely small Linux 'market'. Not mentioning that building DRM-free PC could become illegal in countries with DMCA-like legislation.

And if you wonder why a linux user should care about running a DRM-enabled kernel (after all, it is only there to prevent piracy, is'n it?), consider that it would make not possible to do a lot of things that we currently do (and which are perfectly legal), like recompiling the kernel to fit it to your machine, or downloading, compiling and trying out a new software package not yet in your 'signed' distribution.