diff --git a/site/news/MANIFEST b/site/news/MANIFEST index 55b1eee..84f1314 100644 --- a/site/news/MANIFEST +++ b/site/news/MANIFEST @@ -21,8 +21,6 @@ rms.ru.md rms.tr.md rms.vi.md rms.zh.md -resignations.md -libreboot202104xx.md libreboot20160907.md libreboot20160902.md libreboot20160818.md diff --git a/site/news/libreboot202104xx.md b/site/news/libreboot202104xx.md deleted file mode 100644 index 8e6fe39..0000000 --- a/site/news/libreboot202104xx.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,143 +0,0 @@ -% New Libreboot release, ETA late April 2021 / early June 2021 -% Leah Rowe -% 30 March 2021 - -Rapid progress is being made towards a new Libreboot release. It should be done -by late April or early June 2021. Many new boards will be supported, with lots -of bugs fixed, new features added and the latest coreboot/GRUB/SeaBIOS versions -used on all boards. The Libreboot website will be massively overhauled. - -I, Leah Rowe, have re-taken full control of the Libreboot project after 4 years -delay in bringing out a new release. Long story short, Libreboot began a new -and ambitious re-write of its build system in 2017; as of 2021, that build -system is still not ready; the design is fundamentally flawed and the code is -unmaintainable so I have scrapped the rewrite entirely. The work will be -preserved, for reference, but it has otherwise been abandoned. - -I, Leah Rowe, was not responsible for that re-write. The design of that -re-written build system is fundamentally flawed, and it has too many bugs. The -people working on it kept adding too many new features without fixing -fundamental issues. I have revoked all of their access to project -infrastructure; Libreboot is now lead by me. I have a completely different idea -for how to run the project and what a *coreboot distro* should be. - -I, Leah Rowe, stepped down from Libreboot development in 2017. Since late 2020, -I've been actively developing Libreboot again. I have been working on another -project, forked via Libreboot 20160907 build system `lbmk` but on documentation -from December 2020. That project is: - if Libreboot seems -dead to you right now, it's because I've been doing the work exclusively in -osboot, with the intention of adapting that work back into Libreboot. - -osboot has very different goals than Libreboot, but the build system there is -vastly improved. I have focused on adding all *libre-friendly* boards to osboot -which means anything that Libreboot does support, or can support. I am -presently using a version of coreboot from December 2020, with patches applied -on top to improve certain functionality on specific boards. - -osboot *does not comply* with Libreboot policy; it permits binary blobs. The -purpose of osboot is to provide support for coreboot targets that aren't -yet easy to support in Libreboot, for those who wish to use such hardware. This -is because in many cases, such people will insist on using what hardware they -already have, or they have a need for newer hardware. The coreboot software has -support for lots of hardware. In my opinion, these people will likely not just -install upstream coreboot with a payload; they will want something pre-built -for them that is easy to install, with user-friendly instructions and support. -In other words, they want a *coreboot distro* like Libreboot. In the name -of *harm reduction*, I provide the osboot project precisely for such people, so -as to reduce the amount of non-free software they use; the idea is that osboot -is better, for those people, than using a *completely* non-free machine. osboot -also contains support for most libreboot targets at this point, and the rest -will be added soon; on *those* (and all other x86 machines), microcode updates -are included by default. *Most* boards that coreboot supports do still require -binary blobs; the ones that Libreboot supports represent a small minority of -coreboot targets! This is a sad reality, which has limited the Libreboot -project's possibilities for years. - -I wanted to start something like osboot for a long time. Well, I'm nearly done -adding all *libre-friendly* x86 boards to it; in addition to ones already in -Libreboot, I've added others such as the ThinkPad R500. More will be added -soon. I have made vast improvements to the build system (compared to Libreboot -20160907), so all I need to do now is add all the configs for those libre -friendly boards and ensure that adequate documentation is provided. I can then -provide a release with pre-compiled ROM images and full source code. - -As soon as this is ready, I will *fork osboot* to create `osboot-libre`. This -will be FSF-endorseable and comply with the same criteria as Libreboot. The -reason is because I want to create a source-based, rolling release coreboot -distro with configurability similar to what you'd find in emerge and the -OpenWRT build system. However, that's for much later: - -osboot-libre will be used as a reference to then create a new Libreboot release. -The *source-based coreboot distro* aspect will not be implemented in osboot or -osboot-libre until the new Libreboot release is ready. - -Aside from specific board support, here are some nice improvements currently -in the osboot build system compared to Libreboot 20160907: - -* Generally it is much more cleanly written, and more modular -* You no longer have to manually run individual commands within lbmk (in osboot - it's called osbmk. osboot-make): each command checks if previous commands - required were run, and runs them if not. **This means you can just type a - single command to build a ROM image if you wish!** -* Makefile included, making the build system even easier to use. The Makefile - contains no logic, it just runs osbmk (osboot-make) commands -* Vastly improved `grub.cfg`: un-hardcodes a lot of functionality, improved - usability on i945 targets such as X60/T60/macbook21, USB HDD support out of - the box -* GRUB module missing errors fixed; all standard GRUB modules now included -* LUKS2 now supported in the GRUB payload. -* Geli now supported in the GRUB payload. (FreeBSD encryption thing) -* The documentation is much cleaner -* Tianocore payload supported, for UEFI -* SeaBIOS now included as standard, on all ROM images; on images with the GRUB - payload, SeaBIOS is an option in the boot menu. -* The build system is *much* easier to use when adding new board configs -* Each `board.cfg` for each board defines what payloads it is to use, what - architecture, etc. Coreboot trees are now handled on a directory basis, - instead of creating multiple branches in a newly initialized Git repository; - this is less efficient on disk space, but it is simpler to maintain, so now - the priority is to minimize how ever many coreboot revisions are used. -* Boards can link to other boards; for example, X200 could use the same setup - as T400. However, in this case the specific board would still have it's own - specific coreboot configuration files. -* Build system highly optimized; unnecessary steps are skipped. If you just - want to build for 1 board, you can! Only the things necessary for that board - will be compiled by osbmk, at least automatically that is! -* In general, it is a *much more automated* automated build system! - -Check the hardware support compared to Libreboot: - (NOTE: some of the machines listed there -cannot be added to Librbeboot, but you can see that a lot of Libreboot-friendly -hardware is already present in osboot. Only those targets that can run blob -free will be in Libreboot, and coreboot supports of lot more of such hardware -nowadays). - -Plans: - -* Scrap libreboot.git -* Split build system into `lbmk.git` -* Split web/docs to into `lbwww.git` -* Split images into `lbwww-img` -* Split utils into separate repositories e.g. `ich9utils.git` - -This splitting of the repositories will make each part of Libreboot much more -easily maintainable by contributors. This splitting up of the repository has -already been implemented in osboot! - -**The entire `libreboot.org` website will be -->nuked<-- from orbit.** - -Stay tuned! The new site and new project will be much better. - -PS: - -Code of Conduct abolished -------------------------- - -Libreboot has abolished its Code of Conduct. I no longer believe that a CoC is -effective; in reality, it does not prevent bad behaviour and it discourages -people from joining the project. CoCs are ultimately counter-productive. It's -obvious when someone is behaving badly; common sense will prevail! - -All I want is code. Your code. - -Just try to behave yourself on IRC, OK? diff --git a/site/news/resignations.md b/site/news/resignations.md deleted file mode 100644 index 0ac6f58..0000000 --- a/site/news/resignations.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,118 +0,0 @@ -% swiftgeek and Andrew Robbins removed from the Libreboot project -% Leah Rowe -% 30 March 2021 - -Introduction -============ - -As the title suggests, Andrew Robbins and swiftgeek (Sebastian Grzywna) are no -longer a part of the Libreboot project. While I am sad to see them go, I say -one thing freely: I wish both of them well. I'm extremely grateful for the work -that they have done over the years; their passion, their burning desire to help -others and their energy for Free Software is inspiring. Swiftgeek in particular -has given me a lot of advice on things over the years. I *hope that they do* -continue their work, and I've already told swiftgeek that I will provide him -with the money/resources if he needs it, to help him set up physical hosting -infrastructure for a new project forked from Libreboot. I will do it without a -moment's hesitation. - -I also told swiftgeek that I would be happy to continue working with him, if -he wished. So far I have not yet spoken to Andrew, but he learned of my recent -decisions and has now denounced me on his website; I am not angry with him for -this, in fact I would be angry if I were him. I will address his article later -in this post. Unfortunately, Andrew's article means that I do not wish to talk -to him anymore. - -Their work that they did in Libreboot is now archived. It will be preserved, in -the Git repository, for historical purposes. If they wish to continue with the -development on their version of libreboot, they may do so; in fact, I would not -want to stop them! I merely disagreed on a lot of technical levels with the -way their *build system* (the Paper build system) was implemented. Their build -system is, as of today, an unfinished re-write of Libreboot that began in 2016 -by PaulK when he was a Libreboot project member, then continued in 2017 by -Andrew Robbins under the guidance of swiftgeek. - -On 28 March 2021, I decided that I was nonetheless unhappy with their progress; -they had failed to produce a release in the last few years, and my gut instinct -told me that they would not make a new release at all for at least another few -year. They would have kept being awesome, implementing all kinds of cool -whacky features but their *Paper build system* (which is what it's called, the -version they worked on) would have only got endlessly more complex. I did not -want their code in Libreboot anymore. - -In [my last post earlier today](libreboot202104xx.md) I announced the -extensive amounts of work that I've done on coreboot and related software, in -preparation for a new Libreboot release; in that post, I described all of the -major improvements and what is left to be done for the next Libreboot release -ETA late April 2021 / early June 2021. I only started this work in early -December 2020; I scrapped the re-write (Paper build system) and continued where -I left off back in September 2016, continuing development -of *lbmk* (libreboot-make). lbmk is much simpler and easier to maintain than -Paper, and my argument to swiftgeek has always been that it could easily -implement all of the advanced features Paper has (Paper is badly designed, -but has nice features). I will indeed be doing this! For example: uboot -integration in Libreboot, for ARM devices. - -In 5 months I've made a lot of progress; I am -mere *weeks* away from having a totally new Libreboot release ready. -Nothing has changed since that last post, in fact it's even still the same day, -and the above is merely a summary, but a development has happened: - -Andrew's article ----------------- - -Andrew Robbins is rightly angry at me right now. I do not expect his -forgiveness ever, but I would like to address some of the points he has made in -an article about me. The article is here: - -http://web.archive.org/web/20210330215036/https://www.andrewrobbins.info/libreboot.html - -The only point I wish to address is: - -Yes, I made an arrangement with Andrew to set up an LLC for himself in -USA (LLC = limited liability company). I told him that I would be shipping him -laptops that I buy from USA suppliers, then he would install libreboot on those -and ship them to my USA customer, and I would pay him 75% of the additional -profits generated (because it's sales I wouldn't otherwise get: the 25% would -cover my admin fees and overheads, while he gets the lion share of the profit). - -In Andrew's article, he says that I was *stringing him along* so let me be -clear: although Andrew clearly no longer trusts me, I am still willing to do -this with him. I told him in the beginning that it had nothing to do with his -position in the Libreboot project; it just made good business sense, and it -still does. I would not reduce my workload by doing this with him: I would -keep my workload the same while giving *him* a workload for him to make his -own money. - -Many months ago on IRC, I also proposed to swiftgeek that we start a repair -company. Similar to Louis Rossman's macbook repair company, but for Thinkpads; -swiftgeek has great knowledge of ThinkPad repair, and I could find him -customers. - -I understand Andrew's anger, and fully expected it. I did not take the -decisions I made in Libreboot lightly; I made those decisions because I think -they were (are) the right decisions to make, for the good of the project. - -When I bring that new release out, I will be re-opening the Libreboot -infrastructure for new outside contributors, including those who wish to have -review/push/pull access. - -Needless to say, I reject Andrew's calls for me to hand over control of the -Libreboot project. I'm back, and I have great plans for the project. I intend -to implement them all, fully. - -Closing remarks ---------------- - -I will say once again: - -I wish swiftgeek and Andrew all the best, in whatever they choose to do. -Sadly, I know all too well that Andrew and Swiftgeek will never trust me; such -is even stated in Andrew's article. - -Their work in Libreboot's Git repository will be fully preserved. They are free -to continue their work, and I hope they succeed! Another coreboot distro can -only be a good thing! - -I have nothing else to say. I wasn't sure whether I should address any of this -at all, but I think I made the right choice.