Because, unfortunately, the real "fanatics" in the Linux community see the entire world the way all the other "fanatics" see the world -- only through THEIR eyes. So, anything that is not "good" for them, must be "bad". In the case of Microsoft, they hate MS so bad that ANYTHING MS does is seen in the worst possible light -- even if that descriptions defies all common sense!

As for "enthusiast", since I AM one of those, we're not such a homogeneous group, so we don't have such a singular view of the world as do the "fanatics".

It's almost certainly ONLY going to involve suppliers of PCs with Win8 preloaded -- and the current Win7 preloaded PCs, especially the laptops, already come with the max of 4 Primary partitions on the drive -- making dual-boot multi-OS installations a lot harder than sticking in a CD and choosing "Use largest free space".

As to MS, quite frankly, why should they even be bothered by this supposed "uproar"? They have 90+ percentage of the PC market, Windows 7 was the biggest OS sale of all times, Win8 looks like it's going to be even better -- and when you add up ALL of the Linux enthusiasts what do you get, even 1% of the PC Market? And if Linux forum comments are any indication, quite of few of them would not even consider buying a PC with Win8 preloaded.

In reality, this secure boot frenzy is really "a lot to do about nothing".

A follow-up article from Ed Bott:

Leading PC makers confirm: no Windows 8 plot to lock out Linux

The campaign to spread FUD about Windows 8 is picking up momentum. In the past week, high-profile Linux advocates have tried to add fear, uncertainty, and doubt into what should be a smooth process for implementing a new next-generation security feature. They’ve succeeded in creating controversy, but they’ve also, unfortunately, muddled many of the underlying technical issues.

As I noted last month, the crux of their argument is that Microsoft is deliberately requiring a change in PC hardware that will make it impossible to wipe off a Windows installation and install Linux. The Free Software Foundation even launched an online petition demanding that PC makers “respect user freedom.”

Maybe they should be speaking with the companies that actually build those systems.

That’s what I did yesterday, when I spoke with representatives of the two largest PC makers in the world.

more ...

Not to mention companies like Red Hat, Ubuntu and other major Linux distributors will have keys for use with UEFI Secure Boot. UEFI Secure Boot is not exclusive to only Microsoft and Windows.