Original author(s) | Development status Active | |
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Initial release 12 December 2013; 3 years ago (2013-12-12) Stable release 20160902 (September 2, 2016; 5 months ago (2016-09-02)) [±] Repository notabug.org/vimuser/libreboot Written in Mostly C, and about 1% in assembly | ||
Libreboot (formerly known as GNU Libreboot) is a free software project aimed at replacing the proprietary BIOS firmware found in most computers with a libre, 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.
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Characteristics
Libreboot is established as a distribution of coreboot without proprietary binary blobs. Libreboot is not a straight fork of coreboot; instead, it is a parallel effort that works closely with and re-bases every so often on the latest coreboot as the upstream supplier, with patches merged upstream whenever possible. In addition to removing proprietary software, libreboot also attempts to make coreboot easy to use by automating the build and installation processes.
The Libreboot project made possible the required modifications for completely libre variants of some ThinkPad, Chromebook, and MacBook laptops as well as desktop and server and workstation motherboards. According to its own documentation, it can work with any Linux distribution that uses kernel mode setting (KMS) for the graphics, while Windows is not supported and its use is discouraged by Libreboot. Support for BSD is largely untested, with some successful reports while booting OpenBSD and NetBSD.
History
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) endorses Libreboot, and it officially became part of the GNU Project on 14 May 2016. However, on 16 September 2016, Libreboot's head developer Leah Rowe announced a boycott of the FSF and the removal of Libreboot from the GNU Project, in response to allegations that the organization had fired a transgender employee because the employee reported gender harassment. The FSF publicly denied these allegations on 16 September 2016. Rowe further objected to the FSF not 'letting Libreboot go' on 23 September 2016. Libreboot contributor Damien Zammit issued a statement alleging that Leah Rowe decided to separate from GNU unilaterally, and advertises her personal views as the views of the Libreboot community without consulting other contributors. Other than Rowe and Zammit, no other Libreboot contributor has publicly expressed a desire to either leave GNU or stay with it. In January 2017, Richard Stallman announced that Libreboot was released from the GNU project.
Supported systems
Libreboot system support includes the following systems: