On Aug 31, 2008, at 2:48 AM, Wallace Adrian D'Alessio wrote: > Is EFI the Mac equivalent of ".NET Framework" by MS.
No, .NET Framework = MS Java alternative EFI = Extensible Firmware Interface, a replacement for BIOS in PCs and Open Firmware in PPC Macs. > A way to track licensing of SW on the drive installs and DRM rights? I don't think this has anything to do with EFI, but I imagine all the Intel CPUs have unique identifiers? After the uproar over the last time the Pentium serial #'s were made public, I'd think they probably do this on the hush-hush with just the spy agencies involved? For all I know, since EFI is closed source it could be a back door for the spy folks to monitor any PC or Mac? If this were true, they'd NEVER let anyone know, not even to prosecute a court case. Remember how it took about 50 years for the secret of cracking the Enigma machine to be revealed? They let Coventry be bombed to oblivion rather than let out the Enigma secret. If the spy agencies can crack into anyone's PC via some type of EFI backdoor it would be one of the most closely guarded secrets in the world. > Is that Ralph's concern? I don't know Ralph's concern, but I believe it's probably a morality issue. EFI is closed source, developed by Intel. The prior Mac firmware protocol "Open Firmware" was as it's title implies, open source. There were other open source alternatives to EFI available such as OpenBIOS, but Apple went a different direction this time. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed Low End Mac's G3-5 List, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list?hl=en Low End Mac RSS feed at feed://lowendmac.com/feed.xml -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
