Libreboot (briefly known as GNU Libreboot[3][4]) is a
free software project based on
coreboot, aimed at replacing the proprietary
BIOSfirmware 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-bitoperating system.
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.[11] Hardware support includes but is not limited to the ASUS KGPE-D16,[12]ThinkPad T400,[13][14] X60[7][8] and X200.[14][15] Libreboot is officially endorsed by the upstream
coreboot project.[16]
History
The Libreboot project was started in December 2013[6] as a distribution of coreboot, which excludes non-free
binary blobs. Coreboot began as LinuxBIOS in 1999 at
Los Alamos National Labs (LANL), and was renamed "
coreboot" in 2008.[17]
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 months-long dispute with the Free Software Foundation which oversees GNU.[18][19]
Reception
In 2015, Kyle Rankin stated in Linux Journal that Libreboot "greatly simplified and automated" the flashing process, "with a few caveats".[7][8] In 2016, Bryan Cockfield stated in
Hackaday that Libreboot installation was "harrowing" and "not as easy as you'd think".[9]