8a34a0d338
when we download coreboot, we currently don't have a way to download crossgcc tarballs, so we rely on coreboot to do it, which means running the coreboot build system to do it; which means we don't get them in release archives, unless we add very hacky logic (which did exist and was removed). the problem with coreboot's build system is that it does not define backup links for each given tarball, instead relying on gnu.org exclusively, which seems OK at first because the gnu.org links actually return an HTTP 302 response leading to a random mirror, HOWEVER: the gnu.org 302 redirect often fails, and the download fails, causing an error. a mitigation for this has been to patch the coreboot build system to download directly from a single mirror that is reliable (in our case mirrorservice.org). while this mitigation mostly works, it's not redundant; the kent mirror is occasionally down too, and again we still have the problem of not being able to cleanly provide crossgcc tarballs inside release archives. do it in config/submodules, like so: module.list shall say the relative path of a given file, once downloaded, relative to the given source tree. module.cfg shall be re-used, in the same way as for git submodules, but: subfile="url" subfile_bkup="backup url" do this, instead of: subrepo="url" subrepo_bkup="backup url" example entries in module.list: util/crossgcc/tarballs/binutils-2.41.tar.xz util/crossgcc/tarballs/gcc-13.2.0.tar.xz util/crossgcc/tarballs/gmp-6.3.0.tar.xz util/crossgcc/tarballs/mpc-1.3.1.tar.gz util/crossgcc/tarballs/mpfr-4.2.1.tar.xz util/crossgcc/tarballs/nasm-2.16.01.tar.bz2 util/crossgcc/tarballs/R06_28_23.tar.gz the "subrev" variable (in module.cfg) has been renamed to "subhash", so that this makes sense, and that name is common to both subfile/subrepo. the download logic from the vendor scripts has been re-used for this purpose, and it verifies files using sha512sum. therefore: when specifying subrepo(git submodule), subhash will still be a sha1 checksum, but: when specifying subfile(file, e.g. tarball), subhash will be a sha512 checksum the logic for both (subrepo and subfile) is unified, and has this rule: subrepo* and subfile* must never *both* be declared. the actual configuration of coreboot crossgcc tarballs will be done in a follow-up commit. this commit simply modifies the code to accomodate this. over time, this feature could be used for many other files within source trees, and could perhaps be expanded to allow extracting source tarballs in leiu of git repositories, but the latter is not yet required and thus not implemented. Signed-off-by: Leah Rowe <leah@libreboot.org> |
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README.md
Canoeboot
Find canoeboot documentation at https://canoeboot.org/
The canoeboot project provides
libre boot
firmware that initializes the hardware (e.g. memory controller, CPU,
peripherals) on specific Intel/AMD x86 and ARM targets, which
then starts a bootloader for your operating system. Linux/BSD are
well-supported. It replaces proprietary BIOS/UEFI firmware. Help is available
via #canoeboot IRC
on Libera IRC.
Canoeboot is maintained in parallel with Libreboot, by the same developer. Strictly speaking, it is a fork of Libreboot, but with a twist:
Canoeboot is provided for the purists who absolutely wish to have no proprietary software of any kind. Regardless of any other firmware that exists outside of it, the boot flash on your system will be entirely free software if you install Canoeboot on it. That includes a complete lack of CPU microcode updates, as per FSF policy.
More specifically: Canoeboot is engineered to comply with the GNU Free System Distribution Guidelines. It has, as of November 2023 releases, been strictly audited by FSF licensing staff (Craig Topham lead the audit), and it is listed on the FSF's own Free Software Directory.
Libreboot previously complied with that same policy, but changed to a different one permitting binary blobs in limited circumstances, so as to support more newer machines. Canoeboot is, then, a continuation of the traditional Libreboot project prior to that policy change. Some users still want it, so, Canoeboot releases are rigoriously maintained, re-basing on newer Libreboot releases over time, just like how, say, Trisquel, re-bases itself on each new Ubuntu release.
Project goals
- Obviously, support as much hardware as possible (within the limitations imposed by GNU FSDG, and using what coreboot happens to have in its source tree - Canoeboot also heavily patches coreboot, sometimes adding new mainboards out-of-tree).
- Make coreboot easy to use. Coreboot is notoriously difficult to install, due to an overall lack of user-focused documentation and support. Most people will simply give up before attempting to install coreboot. Canoeboot's automated build system and user-friendly installation instructions solves this problem.
Canoeboot attempts to bridge this divide by providing a build system automating much of the coreboot image creation and customization. Secondly, the project produces documentation aimed at non-technical users. Thirdly, the project attempts to provide excellent user support via IRC.
Canoeboot already comes with a payload (GRUB), flashprog and other needed parts. Everything is fully integrated, in a way where most of the complicated steps that are otherwise required, are instead done for the user in advance.
You can download ROM images for your canoeboot system and install them without having to build anything from source. If, however, you are interested in building your own image, the build system makes it relatively easy to do so.
Not a coreboot fork!
Canoeboot is not a fork of coreboot. Every so often, the project re-bases on the latest version of coreboot, by virtue of maintaining sync with Libreboot releases (minus un-GNU parts), with the number of custom patches in use minimized. Tested, stable (static) releases are then provided in Canoeboot, based on specific coreboot revisions.
LICENSE FOR THIS README
It's just a README file. This README file is released under the terms of the Creative Commons Zero license, version 1.0 of the license, which you can read here:
https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/legalcode.txt
The documentation in Canoeboot will use a mix of other licenses, so you should check that for more information.