[GNUz] To bEFI or not bEFI

[Rik Tindall]

,.. that is the question.

A great benefit of running GNU/Linux is the ability to extend longevity 
of computer hardware significantly. It works so well that the commercial 
upgrade cycle can be broken free of, yet this could invoke being left 
behind by technical progress. Summer holiday can be a good time for 
catch-up study projects!..

So my question please is, are there known pitfalls, risks or 
performance losses in disabling UEFI to use legacy boot (BIOS portion) 
on a modern PC under *nix?

Where many Linux kernel distributions well manage EFI now, is there any 
gain from having your install do so? That is, are there malware or 
rootkits circulating that target Linux, as far as any of us know?

The question arises because I found that getting my test triple-boot 
Windows 7, 10, and Mint desktop platform to work required enabling 
legacy boot instead of full EFI. I don't see a 2TB hard drive as 
necessary or have use for more than 8GB RAM, so is there anything else I 
could still need from UEFI under *nix?

The new platform is designed for providing user support around Skype, 
that on Windows 10 can only be accessed through a registered Microsoft 
login. Skype is supported quite well in Mint. (Personally, my solution 
had been not to utilise Skype, but rest of the world isn't like that, 
mostly.)

With the near future likely to bring manufacturer UEFI lock-in to 
Windows 10, that itself appears to be moving towards an annual licence 
fee (to use a computer) from 2017, one bottle-neck we might want to be 
aware of is will there be enough *nix technicians in the global 
community to support all the computer users wanting to keep using the 
current stock of hardware 'freely'?

Interesting times.

Thank you for any feedback, and Happy New Year.

Regards

Rik