2023-03-20 16:19:28 +00:00
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% What level of Software Freedom does Libreboot give me?
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2023-03-20 16:16:20 +00:00
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% Leah Rowe
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% 20 March 2023
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Quite a while ago, I wrote a *policy* in Libreboot that defines, precisely, the
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standards of what Libreboot will accept in releases as it pertains to *Software
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Freedom*. This policy was written, because a *lack of clarity* existed, so I
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wanted to make sure that people knew exactly what the Libreboot project is all
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about, and what they can expect. It is essentially a *manifesto*, describing
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the *ideology* of the Libreboot project.
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Now, *ideology* is all well and good, but it must be translated into something
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concrete that exists in the real world. You can't get there with thought!
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Today, I published a follow-up article that defines how the policy
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is *implemented* in practise. There has been some confusion among some members
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of the community, about what the policy means in practise.
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Refer here to the new article, thus:
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[Software and hardware freedom status for each mainboard supported by
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Libreboot](../freedom-status.md)
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The article describes, in great detail, the current status of licensing for
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various components of Libreboot. It is the *goal* of Libreboot to promote
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*software freedom*, helping as many people as possible achieve a level of
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sovereignty in their personal computing, reducing (or eliminating) the power
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that proprietary software developers would otherwise have over them. Libreboot
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makes great strides to private *boot firmware*, based on coreboot, with as much
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libre *source code* as possible. It is the goal of the Libreboot project to
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help bring about a world where software freedom is the *default* for everyone.
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I hope that the article clears up any confusion, and I'm open to questions if
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people have any. My info is on the contact page, or you can find me as `leah`
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in the `#libreboot` channel on libera IRC.
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The article will be maintained over time, to reflect the status of Libreboot.
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PS:
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Also, a new version of Libreboot was *released* yesterday. See:
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[Libreboot 20230319 release announcement](libreboot20230319.md)
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It made several major fixes, and massively updated the revisions for each
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part used in ROM images (containing coreboot, GRUB and SeaBIOS).
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I have a bunch of mainboards that I'm working on, and I hope to make another
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release available as soon as possible. My priority for the next Libreboot
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release is to add as many new boards as possible from coreboot, with minimal
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changes to the build system itself; another focus this time is on improvements
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to the documentation. Several installation guides are missing, for example, on
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specific mainboards.
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Specifically, I have focus on some AMD platforms, Intel sandybridge/ivybridge,
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Intel Haswell and (more) GM45 platforms. Several boards exist in coreboot that
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are viable to be added, both under the *current policy* and adhering to the
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current *freedom status* in how the policy is implemented.
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