diff --git a/site/index.md b/site/index.md index 483b19d..6c9c9d1 100644 --- a/site/index.md +++ b/site/index.md @@ -19,39 +19,76 @@ on [Libera](https://libera.chat/) IRC. 1 November 2023. See: [Libreboot 20231101 release announcement](news/libreboot20231101.md).** -Why should you use *Libreboot*? ----------------------------- - -Libreboot gives you [freedoms](https://writefreesoftware.org/) that -you otherwise can't get with most other boot firmware, plus faster boot speeds -and [better security](docs/linux/grub_hardening.md). It's extremely powerful -and [configurable](docs/maintain/) for many use cases. - *We* believe the freedom to [study, share, modify and use software](https://writefreesoftware.org/), without any restriction, is one of the fundamental human rights that everyone must have. In this context, *software freedom* matters. Your freedom matters. Education matters. -[Right to repair](https://yewtu.be/watch?v=Npd_xDuNi9k) matters. -Many people use proprietary (non-libre) -boot firmware, even if they use [a libre OS](https://www.openbsd.org/). +[Right to repair](https://yewtu.be/watch?v=Npd_xDuNi9k) matters. All of this +is *why* Libreboot exists. + +Why use Libreboot? +================== + +Libreboot gives you [freedoms](https://writefreesoftware.org/) that +you otherwise can't get with most other boot firmware, plus faster boot speeds +and [better security](docs/linux/grub_hardening.md). It's extremely powerful +and [configurable](docs/maintain/) for many use cases. If you're unhappy with +the restrictions (not to mention, security issues) imposed on you by proprietary +BIOS vendors, then Libreboot is one possible choice for you. Since it inherits +coreboot, it doesn't have any known backdoors in the code, nor does it contain +legacy cruft from the 1980s. Libreboot provides a sleek, fast boot experience +for Linux/BSD systems, based on coreboot which is regularly audited and improved. + +Libreboot is more reliable that proprietary firmware. Many people use proprietary +(non-libre) boot firmware, even if they use [a libre OS](https://www.openbsd.org/). Proprietary firmware often [contains](faq.html#intel) [backdoors](faq.html#amd), and can be buggy. The Libreboot project was founded in December 2013, with the express purpose of making coreboot firmware accessible for non-technical users. -The Libreboot project uses [coreboot](https://www.coreboot.org/) for [hardware -initialisation](https://doc.coreboot.org/getting_started/architecture.html). -Coreboot is notoriously difficult to install for most non-technical users; it -handles only basic initialization and jumps to a separate -[payload](https://doc.coreboot.org/payloads.html) program (e.g. -[GRUB](https://www.gnu.org/software/grub/), -[Tianocore](https://www.tianocore.org/)), which must also be configured. -*Libreboot solves this problem*; it is a *coreboot distribution* with -an [automated build system](docs/build/) that builds complete *ROM images*, for -more robust installation. Documentation is provided. +Libreboot is a community-oriented project, with a focus on helping users escape +proprietary boot firmware; we ourselves want to live in a world where all software +is [free](https://writefreesoftware.org/), and so, Libreboot is an effort to +help get closer to that world. Unlike the big vendors, we don't try to stifle +you in any way, nor do we see you as a security threat; we regard the ability +to use, study, modify and redistribute software freely to be a human right that +everyone must have. Extended to computers, these are products that you purchased, +and so you should have the freedom to change them in any way you like. When you +see Intel talk about their *Boot Guard* (which prevents coreboot by only letting +firmware signed by them be executed) or other vendors imposing similar +restrictions, and you hear them talk about "security", they are only talking +about *their* security, not yours. In the Libreboot project, it is reversed; we +see Intel Boot Guard and similar such technoogies as an attack on your freedom +over your own property (your computer), and so, we make it our mission to help +you [wrest](https://trmm.net/TOCTOU/) back such control. + +Overview of Libreboot design +============================ + +Libreboot provides [coreboot](https://coreboot.org/) for [machine +initialisation](https://doc.coreboot.org/getting_started/architecture.html), +which then jumps to a [payload](https://doc.coreboot.org/payloads.html) in +the boot flash; coreboot works with many programs, but Libreboot specifically +provides SeaBIOS, GNU GRUB and U-Boot as options. Memtest86+ is also provided +in flash, on some mainboards. The payload is the program in flash that provides +the early user interface, for booting an operating system. + +This *payload* architecture in coreboot is what specifically sets coreboot +apart, from all other boot firmware. With coreboot-based firmware such as +Libreboot, you can run whatever you want (even a Linux kernel!) from the main +boot flash. Libreboot's focus is to prove sane configurations that work for +the average user, but you have a lot of flexibility in this regard. + +Libreboot is specifically a *coreboot distribution*, in the same way that +Debian is a *Linux distribution*. Libreboot makes coreboot easy to use by +non-technical users, by providing a [fully automated build +system](docs/maintain/), [automated build process](docs/build/) and +[user-friendly installation instructions](docs/install/), in addition to +regular binary releases that provide pre-compiled ROM images for installation +on supported hardware. Libreboot is not a fork of coreboot ------------------------------------ +===================================