thomas_shone (@thomas_shone@fosstodon.org)
Föderation EN So 21.07.2024 11:39:43
@MartyFouts @eliasp @EUCommission It is an open vs closed issue. Linux identified kernel modules as a risk (especially closed source ones) and built protection mechanisms to prevent exactly this type of failure 10 years ago: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/EBPF
Microsoft ported this to Windows in 2021 because of its success on Linux (but likely didn't pressure kernel driver authors to swap to use it and there was no visibility on the scope of the risk because the entire ecosystem is closed).
Marty Fouts (@MartyFouts@mastodon.online)
Föderation EN So 21.07.2024 15:00:56
@thomas_shone @eliasp @EUCommission eBPF did not prevent the same company from making the same mistake and bricking Linux systems in the same way in the past. The damage then was smaller only because the software is less widely used in Linux installations.
As you point out, it’s also technology that is now available in Windows, a closed system. The issue here is not closed versus open but one of processes that are independent of that.