Weirdly this person has reposted this almost ten times from my count, since 2007...
their reply back then gives more context to the reason why:
"over the past several weeks, the students have found more
creative ways to abuse the PC speaker (outside of the OS.) The Powers that Be are asking that the PC speakers be disabled completely. With the small number of techs we have, it would be very impractical to go around to all systems and remove the PC speaker from each and every
computer case.
So, the idea was raised about seeing if there was a way to blow the PC
speaker by loading a kernel module"
2 comments
[ 0.21 ms ] story [ 11.5 ms ] threadtheir reply back then gives more context to the reason why:
"over the past several weeks, the students have found more creative ways to abuse the PC speaker (outside of the OS.) The Powers that Be are asking that the PC speakers be disabled completely. With the small number of techs we have, it would be very impractical to go around to all systems and remove the PC speaker from each and every computer case.
So, the idea was raised about seeing if there was a way to blow the PC speaker by loading a kernel module"
- https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/a800cda90706121325p18c85b00r7bc...
Codecs are AC coupled. There is no digital signal you could feed one that would damage a speaker if it is set to a reasonable volume.