This weekend, the Linux Foundation finally released its way to boot up Linux on a UEFI secure boot system, which Windows 8 uses. The files were launched late on Friday on the blog of James Bottomley, who has led the development of this project. The plan was actually announced in October, but technical issues had kept the files from being released until this weekend.
It should be noted while the files that have been made available by the Linux Foundation should work, this is just the first release. As a result, the files themselves (PreLoader.efi and HashTool.efi) are only meant for truly advanced PC and Linux users to install and boot up and should not be attempted by novices. Bottomley has also provided a image that can be installed on a USB flash drive for boot purposes.
The Linux Foundation was also supposed to release the KeyTool.efi file as well but Microsoft apparently found that it "could be used to remove the platform key programmatically" due to a bug in the UEFI system. Bottomley is asking for feedback for this first code release, adding, "In particular, there's a worry that the security protocol override might not work on some platforms, so I particularly want to know if it doesn't work for you."
Source: James Bottomley's blog
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