[tombert]

They could conceivably just restrict it to certain kernels and checksum stuff couldn’t they? Like restrict it to the last three Ubuntu LTS releases and the last N updates of the mainline kernel?

What I don’t know about this is a lot, so I will admit I am speaking out of my ass here.

[cortesoft]

Sure, but those specific kernels would require some sort of verification method to make sure they are actually the kernel it says it is (and not a modified version pretending to not be modified) which would require code signing by a trusted third pasty, use of Trusted Platform Modules, and restrictions on what modifications a user can make to their kernel.

All of these things are pretty much non-starters for Linux users. You might as well just use windows if you are going to go that route.