Linux

48363 readers

1490 users here now

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

Rules

Posts must be relevant to operating systems running the Linux kernel. GNU/Linux or otherwise.
No misinformation
No NSFW content
No hate speech, bigotry, etc

Related Communities

Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0

founded 5 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

627

“Something has gone seriously wrong,” dual-boot systems warn after Microsoft update (arstechnica.com)

submitted 3 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

160 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Last Tuesday, loads of Linux users—many running packages released as early as this year—started reporting their devices were failing to boot. Instead, they received a cryptic error message that included the phrase: “Something has gone seriously wrong.”

The cause: an update Microsoft issued as part of its monthly patch release. It was intended to close a 2-year-old vulnerability in GRUB, an open source boot loader used to start up many Linux devices. The vulnerability, with a severity rating of 8.6 out of 10, made it possible for hackers to bypass secure boot, the industry standard for ensuring that devices running Windows or other operating systems don’t load malicious firmware or software during the bootup process. CVE-2022-2601 was discovered in 2022, but for unclear reasons, Microsoft patched it only last Tuesday.

...

The reports indicate that multiple distributions, including Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Zorin OS, Puppy Linux, are all affected. Microsoft has yet to acknowledge the error publicly, explain how it wasn’t detected during testing, or provide technical guidance to those affected. Company representatives didn’t respond to an email seeking answers.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] nehal3m 19 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Does that screenwriting software require a lot of performance? You might opt to install Windows into a virtual machine, as described here: https://www.windowscentral.com/how-setup-windows-10-virtual-machine-linux

Essentially you're using some software to emulate a computer inside your computer that can run any operating system you want. It doesn't need to touch your actual operating system installation, you can treat it as just another program. For your use case that sounds appropriate; you occasionally need to run specific software that has low system requirements. This way you can do that without risking Microsoft borking your Linux machine any time it feels like it.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I'd imagine it requires about as much as a word processor, since that's basically what it is. A word processor with a specialized template and some nifty autofill options. Again, dummy here. If I'm running a virtual machine, can I create a file in it that is saved to my actual machine, or would I need to, like, email it to myself using the virtual windows os?

[–] nehal3m 9 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

The latter thing you mentioned would work, but you can set up some shared storage between the VM and your machine. Here is some more info: https://www.makeuseof.com/how-to-create-virtualbox-shared-folder-access/

This describes a Windows host and a Linux VM, I'm sure you'll be able to figure out the other way around. :)

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Don't use Virtualbox as it is a Hype 2 hypervisor not a hype 1. You want actually KVM via Libvirt. Libvirt also has the advantage of not requiring any proprietary software. (Just make sure to install the virtual drivers)

[–] nehal3m 3 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

That's all fine and dandy but OP said they're not very technical. Conceptually Virtualbox is a lot simpler to deal with. There's a lot of advantages (philosophical and practical) to be had with a KVM or QEMU setup for sure, but if you want a simple to understand click-it-together setup then Virtualbox is better. If OP wants to graduate to a better setup then I hope they go for a good FOSS solution eventually but going straight for the deep end is rarely a good idea if you want people to understand what they're doing.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

Virtual manager is pretty straight forward. You click on create and follow the wizard. You can even have VMs running in the background