Libreboot

From HandWiki
Short description: Coreboot distribution without proprietary firmware

Libreboot is a free software and hardware project based on coreboot, aimed at replacing the proprietary BIOS firmware in most computers. Libreboot has been described as faster boot firmware for mostly older laptops. Computers with Libreboot have been marketed by several small companies selling refurbished hardware, mostly certified under the "Respects Your Freedom" certification program of the Free Software Foundation.[disputed (for: Lead needs updates to summarize body content)  – discuss]

Characteristics

As of 2018, supported hardware being sold with Libreboot by some vendors included the ThinkPad T400,[1] X60[2][3] and X200.[4]

History

Predecessors

In 2005 the Free Software Foundation launched a "Campaign for Free BIOS".[5] In 2010, the Free Software Foundation began work on a "Respects Your Freedom" computer hardware product certification that "encourages the creation and sale of hardware that will do as much as possible to respect your freedom and your privacy".[6]

Libreboot, which began around 2013, according to "Embedded Firmware Solutions", is based on 13-years older coreboot and predecessors. Coreboot began as LinuxBIOS in 1999 at Los Alamos National Labs (LANL), and was renamed “coreboot” in 2008. By May 2014, coreboot had 10,207 commits made by 285 contributors. When Libreboot was established as a distribution of coreboot in 2013 it was said to be "nonproprietary software distribution".[7]

Reception

In April 2014, Dmitri Popov of Linux Magazine reviewed a refurbished IBM Lenovo ThinkPad X60 laptop purchased from Gluglug (GNU/Linux Libre User Group), which had received Respects Your Freedom hardware certification from the Free Software Foundation. Popov said the included operating system was Trisquel, describing it as "a perfect match for ThinkPad X60." Popov said gNewSense or Parabola were also options. Popov said the received hardware was in "decent cosmetic condition, despite being somewhat dirty, and said the boot sequence was "quick", but said removal of proprietary firmware caused hardware keys (volume, playback, and keys used with the Fn key) to not work, and the screen brightness could not be changed from 100 percent, calling it "quite a nuisance". Popov concluded, "Short battery life and the inability to adjust screen brightness make the laptop less appealing as a travel companion", old hardware means it is not good as a "primary machine", and it would be better as "a secondary machine for hacking, coding, and writing" if you remain near a power outlet.[8]

In January 2015, the Free Software Foundation announced a second Libreboot laptop from Gluglug (a project of Minifree, Ltd) had received Respects Your Freedom certification.[9] In February 2015, Chris Hoffman of PC World wrote,

The Gluglug X60 was a refurbished ThinkPad X60, just as the LibreBoot X200 is a refurbished ThinkPad X200. The ThinkPad X60 is a laptop from 2006, even two years older than the 2008-vintage ThinkPad X200. There’s no way around it: This hardware is just plain dated.

Hoffman also said Gluglug’s developers reverse-engineered the laptop’s low-level firmware, created free software firmware to replace it, and installed that onto the laptop, but concluded "Sadly, it’ll take more than a refurbished laptop from seven years ago with reverse-engineered firmware to change the industry."[10]

In August 2015, Chris Hoffman of PC World said Gluglug laptops, the LibreBoot X200, unlike Purism’s laptops, "is actually endorsed by the Free Software Foundation." Hoffman concluded, "If you really do want a completely free software experience, avoid Purism for the foreseeable future and stick with Gluglug’s laptops."[11]

According to Kyle Rankin writing for Linux Journal in 2015, Libreboot "greatly simplified and automated" the flashing process, "with a few caveats".[2][3]

In September 2015, the Free Software Foundation announced a US company called Libiquity was the first US company to receive Respects Your Freedom certification. Libiquity also contributed to Libreboot, and led development of FSF-endorsed ProteanOS.[12] In September 2015, Steven Vaughan-Nichols, writing for ZDNET, said Libiquity's Taurinus X200 laptop with Libreboot was "only the second laptop to be given the RYF, and it's the first to be ME (Intel Management Engine) free". Vaughan-Nichols said it had all its original low-level firmware and operating system software replaced with the free-software boot system, Libreboot, so "No trace of ME has been left", and the Trisquel operating system.

To do this, Libreboot developers reverse engineered Intel's firmware. They then created a small software utility to produce a free firmware image that conforms to Intel's specifications. Finally, to install their firmware on the device, they used a serial peripheral interface (SPI) flasher. This is then used to completely overwrite the proprietary firmware with Libreboot and GNU GRUB 2.

Vaughan-Nichols quoted FSF's licensing and compliance manager, Joshua Gay, who said, "With a rise in manufacturing of treacherous computing chips and each successive version of Intel's Management Engine becoming more treacherous than the last... it is refreshing to have companies like Libiquity making strong commitments to computer user freedom." Libiquity founder Patrick McDermott said they were "honored to be the first US company" to receive RYF certification".[13] In September 2016, The Libiquity Taurinus X200 with Free Software Foundation approval was one of 10 laptops recommended for "Linux lovers" by Nick Heath of TechRepublic.[14]

According to Christine Hall of FossForce, Libreboot project work by Leah Rowe had been endorsed by the Free Software Foundation, and been an official part of the GNU Project since May 2016. In January 2017, Libreboot work by Rowe officially separated from the GNU Project, after about 4 months of controversy.[15][16]

In October 2017, Bruce Byfield of Linux-Magazine described how the Free Software Foundation's Respects Your Freedom list "more than doubled" in June 2017 as Romanian company Technoethical (formerly Tehnoetic) received 16 certifications including the refurbished X200 tablet/laptop with Libreboot and Trisquel. Tiberiu Turbureanu founded Technoethical in 2013. According to Byfield, Turbureanu said their refurbished product was "the first commercially available laptop/tablet convertible with a free BIOS and free operating system."[17]

In May 2018, Erik Bärwaldt of linux-magazine.com wrote,

Several small international companies have emerged around free BIOS implementations. These vendors fill the niche of providing computers for users who want a system that is truly all free. They can also offer the benefit of faster boot time with a trimmed down system, and they are in a unique position to avoid the planned obsolescence of the computer industry by maintaining support for older systems that are no longer relevant to the big hardware vendors.

Bärwaldt reviewed a Lenovo ThinkPad T400 notebook, purchased from Minifree and certified by the Free Software Foundation under the "Respects Your Freedom" program, with Trisquel and Libreboot preinstalled. Bärwaldt described Libreboot as having some proprietary binary blobs removed from coreboot, and said the more than eight years old laptop looked "almost as good as new". According to Bärwaldt, the Libreboot BIOS was "significantly" faster, and Trisquel boots "considerably" faster, compared with other systems on "similar hardware". Bärwaldt said there were weaknesses where proprietary blobs and firmware had not yet been replaced with free components.[1]

In November 2021 ItsFoss said the GNU Project released the third release of Libreboot as a test release requiring "additional stabilization and testing". Libreboot was called "a completely free project fork" of CoreBoot, which also includes tools that users without special skills can use.[18] According to TUX MACHINES, releases of Libreboot in 2021 were the first in nearly 5 years.[19]

In March 2023, a new website, libreboot.at, and a GNU/FSF supported project again using the Libreboot name was announced at LibrePlanet 2023. According to analysis presented by Denis Carikli, when the former Libreboot team began adding non-free software, and the differences could not be resolved, a new Libreboot effort with support of FSF, GNU, Technoethical and others, was started.[20][21]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Bärwaldt, Erik (May 2018). "Liberated » Linux Magazine" (in en-US). http://www.linux-magazine.com/Issues/2018/210/Free-Firmware-with-Libreboot. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Rankin, Kyle (September 28, 2015). "Libreboot on an X60, Part I: the Setup". https://www.linuxjournal.com/content/libreboot-x60-part-i-setup. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Rankin, Kyle (October 28, 2015). "Libreboot on an x60, Part II: the Installation". https://www.linuxjournal.com/content/libreboot-x60-part-ii-installation. 
  4. ↑ Rankin, Kyle (March 6, 2017). "Flash ROMs with a Raspberry Pi". https://www.linuxjournal.com/content/flash-roms-raspberry-pi. 
  5. ↑ "FSF - Campaign for Free BIOS". 2005-03-01. https://www.fsf.org/campaigns/free-bios.html. 
  6. ↑ Noyes, Katherine (October 11, 2012). "New FSF logo highlights hardware that 'Respects Your Freedom'" (in en). https://www.pcworld.com/article/461621/new-fsf-logo-highlights-hardware-that-respects-your-freedom.html. 
  7. ↑ Sun, Jiming; Jones, Marc; Reinauer, Stefan; Zimmer, Vincent (2015), Sun, Jiming; Jones, Marc; Reinauer, Stefan et al., eds., "Building coreboot with Intel FSP" (in en), 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, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-0070-4_4, retrieved 2023-05-27 
  8. ↑ Popov, Dmitri (April 2014). ""An open source laptop from Gluglug, Purely Open Source"". Linux Magazine. https://www.linux-magazine.com/Issues/2014/161/Gluglug-Laptop. 
  9. ↑ "Libreboot X200 laptop now FSF-certified to respect your freedom [LWN.net"]. https://lwn.net/Articles/631697/. 
  10. ↑ Hoffman, Chris (February 5, 2015). "The Free Software Foundation loves this laptop, but you won't" (in en). https://www.pcworld.com/article/431637/the-free-software-foundation-loves-this-laptop-but-you-wont.html. 
  11. ↑ Hoffman, Chris (August 7, 2015). "Why Linux enthusiasts are arguing over Purism's sleek, idealistic Librem laptops" (in en). https://www.pcworld.com/article/422917/why-linux-enthusiasts-are-arguing-over-purisms-sleek-idealistic-librem-laptops.html. 
  12. ↑ "Taurinus X200 laptop now FSF-certified to respect your freedom [LWN.net"]. September 30, 2015. https://lwn.net/Articles/658841/. 
  13. ↑ Vaughan-Nichols, Steven J. (September 30, 2015). "Taurinus X200: Now the most 'Free Software' laptop on the planet" (in en). https://www.zdnet.com/article/a-new-free-software-laptop-arrives/. 
  14. ↑ Heath, Nick (2016-09-23). "Fed up with Windows 10? Check out these 10 laptops for Linux lovers" (in en-US). https://www.techrepublic.com/pictures/fed-up-with-windows-10-10-laptops-for-linux-lovers/. 
  15. ↑ Hall, Christine (2017-01-06). "GNU Officially Boots Libreboot" (in en-US). https://fossforce.com/2017/01/gnu-officially-boots-libreboot/. 
  16. ↑ Hall, Christine (2016-09-16). "Libreboot Leaves GNU Claiming Gender Identity Discrimination by FSF" (in en-US). https://fossforce.com/2016/09/libreboot-leaves-gnu-claiming-gender-identity-discrimination-fsf/. 
  17. ↑ Byfield, Bruce (October 2017). "Free-licensed hardware, Respecting Your Freedom with Refurbished Devices". https://www.linux-magazine.com/Issues/2017/203/Open-Hardware-Technoethical. 
  18. ↑ "Libreboot 20211122 Released, a completely free Coreboot distribution - itsfoss.net" (in en-US). 2021-11-27. https://www.itsfoss.net/libreboot-20211122-released/. 
  19. ↑ "Libreboot 20210522 released! | Tux Machines". http://www.tuxmachines.org/node/151505?quicktabs_bottomtabs=0. 
  20. ↑ "Libreboot - Free Software Directory". https://directory.fsf.org/wiki/Libreboot. 
  21. ↑ "Taking control over the means of production: Free software boot — GNU MediaGoblin". https://media.libreplanet.org/u/libreplanet/m/taking-control-over-the-means-of-production-free-software-boot/. 




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