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from the things-that-make-your-laptop-go-BOOM dept.
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/12/21/ubuntu_lenovo_bios/
Updated Canonical has halted downloads of Ubuntu Linux 17.10, aka Artful Aardvark, from its website after punters complained installing the open-source OS on laptops knackered the machines.
Specifically, the desktop flavor of Artful Aardvark, released in October, has been temporarily pulled – the server builds and other editions remain available. A corrected version of 17.10 for desktops is due to be released soon.
"The download of Ubuntu 17.10 is currently discouraged due to an issue on certain Lenovo laptops," the Linux distro maker noted this week on its desktop download page. "Once fixed this download will be enabled again."
Installing 17.10 on Lenovo Yoga and IdeaPad laptops prevents the motherboard's BIOS from saving its settings, and while the computer will hopefully continue to start up, it potentially stops the machine from booting via USB.
The cockup mainly affects Lenovo computers, although other systems may also fall foul: selected Acer, HP, Toshiba and Dell hardware are said to be hit, too.
A fault report on Canonical's bug tracker tells it all – apparently, Artful Aardvark's Linux kernel includes an Intel SPI driver that was not ready for release
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Hyperturtle on Tuesday December 26 2017, @01:51PM
This is likely a window into the future. People make bios changes to control their machine, this change changes it for you for whatever reason... and clearly it implemented something not very consumer friendly.
The most visible problem is that USB booting was disabled -- as if the secure boot had been enabled in the BIOS on purpose to prevent people from booting an alternate anything... sound familiar? But this wasn't just impacting Windows...
If it is a step in the direction that I think it is, then this isn't dumb. It's by design. Dumb for you and me, yes, but for most people... they'd be happy to know their OS is safe and that sure auto update everything because I dont want to be interrupted while streaming netflix, etc... All the people complaining right now are "power users". You know that Intel took the attention to their ME problems and decided to lock it down even harder rather than concede to mistakes?
The ability to load something of your own and remain in control... has been eroded slowly over time--change the battery of your phone, remove the SIM, disable GPS... all removed for svelte and safety on many models, and priced to match to make it seem like it's luxurious. Cheap devices are clunkly and have seams, holes and buttons!
The PC is moving in the same direction, and in many cases already is. Consider how many PCs come with some sort of media to re-install the OS -- or even the means to record something that can. They don't. A restore partition doesn't recover a dead hard drive, and most people are too cheap to be willing to create a USB stick that they won't ever touch and keep it in case they have to reinstall.
I wonder how long it will be before our PCs need to pass a bios check to connect to the internet? Otherwise we may fail an ISP safety exam. "I'm sorry, your PC allows for booting unapproved OSes that may spread malware on our network and you can lose your rights to the Internet powered by us as a result of non-conformance."