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Libreboot

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Libreboot
Original author(s)Leah Rowe
Developer(s)Leah Rowe
Initial release12 December 2013; 11 years ago (2013-12-12)
Preview release20241008 (October 8, 2024; 2 months ago (2024-10-08)) [±][1]
Repositorycodeberg.org/libreboot/lbmk
TypeOpen-source firmware
License
Websitelibreboot.org

Libreboot (briefly known as GNU Libreboot[3][4]) is a free software project based on coreboot, aimed at replacing the proprietary BIOS firmware contained by most computers. Libreboot is a lightweight system designed to perform only the minimum number of tasks necessary to load and run a modern 32-bit or 64-bit operating system.

Characteristics

Libreboot is established as a distribution of coreboot, but with some proprietary binary blobs removed from coreboot.[5] Libreboot makes coreboot easy to use by automating the build and installation processes.[6][7][8][9]

On some devices, Libreboot developers have reverse engineered the firmware from Intel and created a utility to create a free firmware that meets the specifications from Intel.[10]

History

The Libreboot project was started in December 2013.[5] Libreboot is a nonproprietary distribution of coreboot, which excludes nonfree binary blobs. Coreboot began as LinuxBIOS in 1999 at Los Alamos National Labs (LANL), and was renamed "coreboot" in 2008.[11]

Libreboot has been endorsed by the Free Software Foundation, and was an official part of the GNU Project since May 2016. In January 2017, the project's maintainer Leah Rowe pulled Libreboot from the GNU project, after a controversial months-long dispute with the FSF which oversees GNU.[12][13]

Reception

According to Kyle Rankin writing for Linux Journal in 2015, Libreboot "greatly simplified and automated" the flashing process, "with a few caveats".[6][7]

According to Bryan Cockfield writing for Hackaday in 2016, Libreboot installation was "harrowing" and "not as easy as you'd think".[14]

Libreboot is also officially endorsed by upstream coreboot project.[15]

Notes

  1. ^ The resulting binary is licensed under the GPLv3

References

  1. ^ "Libreboot - Libreboot news". Libreboot. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
  2. ^ "libreboot's COPYING file". notabug.org. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  3. ^ "List of GNU software packages on 22 May 2016". GNU project. 22 May 2016. Archived from the original on 22 May 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  4. ^ "[Libreboot] GNU Libreboot, version 20160818 released". lists.gnu.org. Archived from the original on 18 October 2019. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  5. ^ a b Bärwaldt, Erik. "Liberated » Linux Magazine". Linux Magazine. Archived from the original on 22 August 2021. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  6. ^ a b Rankin, Kyle (28 September 2015). "Libreboot on an X60, Part I: the Setup". Linux Journal. Archived from the original on 22 August 2021. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  7. ^ a b Rankin, Kyle (28 October 2015). "Libreboot on an x60, Part II: the Installation". Linux Journal. Archived from the original on 22 August 2021. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  8. ^ By (16 December 2016). "Harrowing Story Of Installing Libreboot On ThinkPad". Hackaday. Archived from the original on 7 September 2021. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  9. ^ By (20 August 2018). "Installing LibreBoot The (Very) Lazy Way". Hackaday. Archived from the original on 24 November 2020. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  10. ^ Vaughan-Nichols, Steven J. "Taurinus X200: Now the most 'Free Software' laptop on the planet". ZDNet. Archived from the original on 26 August 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  11. ^ Sun, Jiming; Jones, Marc; Reinauer, Stefan; Zimmer, Vincent (2015), Sun, Jiming; Jones, Marc; Reinauer, Stefan; Zimmer, Vincent (eds.), "Building coreboot with Intel FSP", Embedded Firmware Solutions: Development Best Practices for the Internet of Things, Berkeley, CA: Apress, pp. 55–95, doi:10.1007/978-1-4842-0070-4_4, ISBN 978-1-4842-0070-4, retrieved 27 May 2023
  12. ^ Hall, Christine (6 January 2017). "GNU Officially Boots Libreboot". FOSS Force. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  13. ^ Hall, Christine (16 September 2016). "Libreboot Leaves GNU Claiming Gender Identity Discrimination by FSF". FOSS Force. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  14. ^ By (16 December 2016). "Harrowing Story Of Installing Libreboot On ThinkPad". Hackaday. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  15. ^ "coreboot for end users". coreboot.org. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
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