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Open-source champion Bruce Perens has called out Intel for adding a new restriction to its software license agreement along with its latest CPU security patches to prevent developers from publishing software benchmark results.
The new clause appears to be a move by Intel to legally gag developers from revealing performance degradation caused by its mitigations for Spectre and Foreshadow or 'L1 Terminal Fault' (L1FT) flaw speculative attacks.
"You will not, and will not allow any third party to ... publish or provide any software benchmark or comparison test results," Intel's new agreement states .
[...] Another section of the license blocking redistribution appears to have caused maintainers of Debian to withhold Intel's patch too , as reported by The Register.
[...] Updated 12:15pm ET, August 23 2018: An Intel spokesperson responded: "We are updating the license now to address this and will have a new version available soon. As an active member of the open-source community, we continue to welcome all feedback."
(Score: 5, Interesting) by TheGratefulNet on Friday August 24 2018, @12:58AM (4 children)
sudo apt-get remove --purge intel-microcode
fuck it, I'm outta here. I'll take NO microcode to the bullshit they are shoving our way.
the fact that they gag us says it all. I don't need to see numbers. I'm done buying intel cpus at this point.
its not just that they fucked up the silicon (and they have more people and money than they can count, so its NOT a resources issue!) - but they are actively hostile toward the userbase.
fwiw, I used to actually work for intel. I used to like them. that is now all gone.
all it takes to lose decades of repeat customers is one huge fuckup. welcome to that, intel. THIS is what is going to turn people off. not so much the si bugs, but its how you handle yourself. and this is what a total lack of grace looks like.
pitiful. from a once world leader in tech, we get this.
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Friday August 24 2018, @01:57AM
Too Late, buddy.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Friday August 24 2018, @04:36AM (1 child)
I thought the microcode got loaded by BIOS (or EFI-BOOT) or by the kernel? [trundles off to check...] Yep, right there in kernel config. So just make your own kernel, or grab an older microcode and compile it into a newer kernel. May be easier said than done...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 24 2018, @02:11PM
it's what I did to restore performance to a machine that infrequently touches the internet except for the occasional update.
which of course reminded me to check the updates more thoroughly before applying them, after I was unhappy with the result.
I had to get the microcode file from an old backup; I'd never even paid attention to the microcode file as applied by the OS prior to that. This also was before the whole spectre thing. something in the management engine was goofing up my overclocks..
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 27 2018, @09:12PM
Update 28 August: new intel-microkernel update arrived in my Mint 18.3.... the glacier moves noticeably faster after that. Even thumbnailing is back to almost pre-Intel-panic speeds, though apparently Ubuntu are ignoring a Gnome vulnerability "fix" on the thumbnailing... but do I trust Gnome devs (new "flat look", Gnome 3,..)