2021-05-18 14:21:48 +02:00
|
|
|
---
|
2021-11-13 06:48:07 +01:00
|
|
|
title: Free your BIOS today!
|
2023-10-04 20:03:25 +02:00
|
|
|
x-reviewed: true
|
2021-05-18 14:21:48 +02:00
|
|
|
...
|
|
|
|
|
|
2023-03-16 16:37:32 +01:00
|
|
|
### What is this? ####
|
|
|
|
|
|
2023-08-03 18:42:29 +02:00
|
|
|
GNU Boot is a free software project aimed at replacing the proprietary
|
2023-03-17 16:49:43 +01:00
|
|
|
boot firmware that comes with computers with free boot software.
|
2023-03-16 16:37:32 +01:00
|
|
|
|
2023-11-14 19:08:59 +01:00
|
|
|
### Project status and need for help ####
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Right now GNU Boot is still in its early stage.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
It should be relatively safe to use the [last release
|
|
|
|
|
candidate](https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/gnuboot/) (GNU Boot 0.1-rc1) as is
|
|
|
|
|
has minimal changes on top of Libreboot 20220710 (the last 100% free
|
|
|
|
|
release of Libreboot) and also because several people tested it and
|
|
|
|
|
didn't report any blocking issue.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
However we need a lot of help for fixing the website as most pages are
|
|
|
|
|
out of date or still refer to Libreboot or libreboot.at instead of GNU
|
|
|
|
|
Boot.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
This is very important because the website also contains all the
|
|
|
|
|
project documentation, including the installation instructions (we
|
|
|
|
|
also need help testing them).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
See the [page about contributing to GNU
|
2023-11-16 15:47:35 +01:00
|
|
|
Boot](/software/gnuboot/web/git.html) for more details on how to
|
2023-11-14 19:08:59 +01:00
|
|
|
help GNU Boot.
|
|
|
|
|
|
2023-03-16 16:37:32 +01:00
|
|
|
### How this project came to exist ####
|
|
|
|
|
|
2023-03-17 16:49:43 +01:00
|
|
|
We believe computer users deserve to control all the software they
|
|
|
|
|
run. This belief is the key principle of the Free Software Movement,
|
|
|
|
|
and was the motive for developing the GNU operating system and
|
|
|
|
|
starting the Free Software Foundation. We believe computer user
|
|
|
|
|
freedom is a crucial human rights.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
In order to achieve our goal, it is crucial that we call a program
|
|
|
|
|
"free" or "libre" only when it is indeed free in its entirety. When
|
|
|
|
|
we talk about specific programs, we must not muddle the facts about
|
|
|
|
|
what is free and what is not. If people start referring to a progran
|
|
|
|
|
as "libre," when parts of it are not in fact libre, that tends to lead
|
|
|
|
|
the community astray.
|
2023-03-16 16:37:32 +01:00
|
|
|
|
2023-03-17 16:49:43 +01:00
|
|
|
Unfortunately, such a muddle happened last year with a boot program
|
2023-08-03 18:42:29 +02:00
|
|
|
that was free software and is called Libreboot: the development team
|
|
|
|
|
added nonfree code to it, but continued to use "Libre" in its name.
|
2023-03-17 16:49:43 +01:00
|
|
|
|
2023-03-19 19:37:27 +01:00
|
|
|
Libreboot was first released in 2013. It has been widely recommended
|
|
|
|
|
in the free software community for the last nine years. In November
|
2023-08-03 18:42:29 +02:00
|
|
|
2022, Libreboot began to include non-libre code. We have made
|
2023-03-20 21:17:43 +01:00
|
|
|
repeated efforts to continue collaboration with those developers to
|
2023-03-19 19:37:27 +01:00
|
|
|
help their version of Libreboot remain libre, but that was not
|
2023-03-17 23:21:36 +01:00
|
|
|
successful.
|
2023-03-17 16:49:43 +01:00
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Now we've stepped forward to stand up for freedom, ours and that of
|
|
|
|
|
the wider community, by maintaining our own version -- a genuinely libre
|
2023-08-03 18:42:29 +02:00
|
|
|
Libreboot, that after some hurdles gave birth to this project: GNU Boot.
|
