First, a non-GPL bootloader would be required. Grub 2 and Grub are released under the GPLv3 and GPLv2, respectively, he noted.

Second, "in the near future the design of the kernel will mean that the kernel itself is part of the bootloader," Garrett added. "This means that kernels will also have to be signed. Making it impossible for users or developers to build their own kernels is not practical."

Finally, if sign for themselves, the required keys would have to be included by every OEM, he said.

It may turn out to be the case that Microsoft will allow vendors to provide firmware support for disabling this feature and running unsigned code, Garrett acknowledged. Even so, however, it's unlikely that all hardware will ship with that option, he added, posing problems for at least some Linux users down the road.

It remains to be seen how this situation will play out, of course. For my part, though, it sounds like one more good reason to choose hardware with .