Toolkit

Story: Linux 'needs DRM support' for consumer success

Posted by: Uri Sivan (Saturday 8 April 2006, 3:32 AM)

"DRM on Linux" is an oxymoron. DRM and Linux don't mix because Linux is the exact opposite of DRM: it gives total freedom to the user. For an OS to have effective DRM it must have "protected paths" and be "tamper proof", all meaning the system is binary, closed, and uses cryptography to resist any attempt by the user to change it.

There are two problems with these demands with regards to Linux: the first is a legal problem. The license terms of the Linux kernel and the entire GNU environment simply forbid the distribution of binary compilations without access to the code. So the code body currently comprising Linux cannot be the basis for a DRM-enabled OS.

The second problem is market positioning: who would use such a Linux? Freedom is at the heart of the Linux experience. No one would want a crippled Linux that restricts them and allows others to dictate what they are allowed or not allowed to do. Anyone willing to accept such restrictions would (and should) use the existing proprietary operating systems, like OS X or Windows.