274 lines
12 KiB
Markdown
274 lines
12 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: Other coreboot distributions
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x-toc-enable: true
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...
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Introduction
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============
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Libreboot is a *coreboot distribution* or *coreboot distro*, in the same way
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that Debian is a *Linux distro*. Its purpose is to provide free/opensource boot
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firmware, replacing proprietary BIOS/UEFI firmware, and it
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supports [many machines](docs/install/#which-systems-are-supported-by-libreboot).
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It is a coreboot distro precisely because of its [design](docs/maintain/).
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Libreboot's build system automatically downloads, patches and builds all the
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various upstream sources such as coreboot, GRUB, SeaBIOS, U-Boot and so on.
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This automation is used to provide [binary releases](download.md), which the
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user can [easily install](docs/install/). Coreboot is notoriously difficult
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to configure and install, for most people, and you need a high degree of
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technical skill to use it; distros like Libreboot bridge this gap, making
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coreboot accessible to non-technical users.
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Libreboot was the *first* coreboot distro,
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existing [since December 2013](news/10.md). Many Libreboot users exist today,
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who would otherwise not use coreboot at all.
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Coreboot is highly flexible for many configurations. It is quite possible build
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to [your own coreboot image](https://doc.coreboot.org/getting_started/index.html)
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but most non-technical users should probably use a coreboot distro.
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It's thanks to the various coreboot distros that many people use coreboot today;
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without them, many otherwise non-technical users might not use coreboot at all.
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Why list other distros?
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-----------------------
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Over the years, several other coreboot distros have come and gone. It has been
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decided that this page will be written, to document some of them. Not every
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distro is listed; only those of high quality, or otherwise of interest, will
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be listed. Quality over quantity.
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Libreboot tries to support as much hardware as possible, and focuses on providing
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the easiest possible experience for non-technical users; it's also
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highly [configurable](docs/maintain/) for power users.
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Several other projects exist that target different kinds of users, and support
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different types of hardware; for example, Libreboot mostly doesn't target
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Chromebooks, except for a few.
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Libreboot's main priority is to provide users with free/opensource boot
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firmware, to help more users achieve a higher level
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of [software freedom](https://writefreesoftware.org/learn). Well, Libreboot is
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one of the most well-known coreboot distros out there, so it is our duty to
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therefore cover the other projects, because it may be that Libreboot isn't for
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you; these other projects may support features and mainboards that Libreboot
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doesn't, that you may find preferable.
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We in the Libreboot project greatly admire and respect the other distros, and
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will gladly work with them.
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Without further ado,
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List of coreboot distros
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========================
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In alphabetical order:
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Canoeboot
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---------
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Website: <https://canoeboot.org/>
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Git repositories: <https://canoeboot.org/git.html>
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Canoeboot is a *special fork* of Libreboot; both Canoeboot and Libreboot are
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maintained in parallel by the same developer, Leah Rowe. Canoeboot supports
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far less hardware than Libreboot, but provides a *pure* free software coreboot
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distribution, due to its [policy](https://canoeboot.org/news/policy.html). As
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a result of Canoeboot's policy, it currently only supports very old hardware.
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It otherwise has the exact same design as Libreboot, and is kept in relative
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sync [at all times](https://canoeboot.org/about.html), often doing releases side
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by side on the same days as Libreboot.
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*Libreboot* supports more hardware than Canoeboot, due to its more
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pragmatic [Binary Blob Reduction Policy](news/policy.md) adopted on 17
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November 2022; Canoeboot is a continuation of Libreboot from prior to this,
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since Libreboot initially used the same dogmatic policy as Canoeboot. A small
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minority of users demanded it post-November 2022, so Canoeboot was born.
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If you're an absolute Free Software fanatic, Canoeboot is for you. Otherwise,
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if you want to use much newer hardware, Libreboot is a worthy choice. Since
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Canoeboot only supports much older hardware, and uses Libreboot's *old* policy,
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you could consider Canoeboot to be *legacy Libreboot*. Libreboot adopted the
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Binary Blob Reduction Policy in November 2022, as part of a general desire to
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support more - and newer - hardware.
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Chultrabook
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-----------
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Website: <https://docs.chrultrabook.com/>
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Git repositories: <https://github.com/chrultrabook>
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Provides a tailored EDK2(UEFI) payload on supported *Chromebooks*. You can use
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this to replace ChromeOS with a regular Linux distro or BSD system - even
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Windows - if you wish.
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The benefit of using *Chultrabook* is that it provides up to date EDK2, unlike
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proprietary vendors who often provide old, CVE-ridden versions of EDK2 forks
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such as InsydeH2O.
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With Chultrabook's guidance, you can have a completely up to date UEFI firmware
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on your machine, and get good use out of your Chromebook for many more years,
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with regular security updates.
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One of Chultrabook's maintainers, Elly, did this talk at 37C3 conference,
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demonstrating Chultrabook:
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<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HFIQi835wY> - and also did this more general
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talk about coreboot at 38C3: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LD9tOcf4OkA>. It's
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very good reference material if you want to know more about coreboot, and
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coreboot distros more generally.
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Elly also did this interview with Brodie Robertson, about coreboot, and
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explains the concept of a coreboot distro in more detail in one part of
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the interview:
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<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Am_1MzJ6ZA>
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Libreboot largely avoids supporting Chromebooks, precisely because Chultrabook
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and MrChromebox are perfectly viable options on these machines.
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Dasharo
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-------
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Website: <https://docs.dasharo.com/>
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Git repositories: <https://github.com/dasharo>
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Supports many machines, with a choice of EDK2(UEFI) or Heads(Linuxboot)
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payload in the flash. Some older machines may provide a SeaBIOS payload
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instead. A lot of work that goes into the upstream coreboot project came
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from the Dasharo developers.
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Dasharo provides their own fork of coreboot, with a specific tree *per board*.
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Several coreboot ports (e.g. MSI Z690-A PRO) were implemented directly by
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the Dasharo project, and later upstreamed into the regular coreboot project.
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Dasharo has a special emphasis on commercial application, providing tailored
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coreboot images for each supported mainboard, with an emphasis on stability.
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It's a very different approach than Libreboot's approach; Libreboot provides
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a more generalised design in its build system and infrastructure.
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Heads
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-----
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Website: <https://osresearch.net/>
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Git repositories: <https://github.com/linuxboot/heads>
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Heads provides a LinuxBoot payload using U-Root, and has many advanced features
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such as TPM-based MeasuredBoot. With combined use of a FIDO key, you can easily
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and more reliably determine whether you boot firmware has been tampered with.
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The Linux-based payload in flash uses kexec to boot another Linux kernel. It
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provides an easy to use boot menu, highly configurable and supports many
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Linux distros easily.
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If you're the sort of person who needs full disk encryption and you have a
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focus on security, Heads is for you. Perfect for use with something like Qubes.
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Libreboot provides its own [security mechanisms](docs/linux/grub_hardening.html),
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but Heads is much more flexible and complete, in this regard. The only downside
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to Heads's Linux-based flash setup, is that it's basically a Linux-only
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coreboot distro (whereas Libreboot can boot BSD and even *Windows*, in some
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cases).
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Another focus of the heads project is on *reproducible builds*. Its build
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system bootstraps a toolchain that then compiles everything else, including
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the coreboot crossgcc toolchain. The purpose of this is to provide matching
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ROM hashes on every build; for this purpose, it also auto-downloads vendor
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files such as Intel ME at build time, instead of requiring you to dump from
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the original boot firmware.
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Heads's vendorcode auto-download logic inspired Libreboot's
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own [vendorcode inject](docs/install/ivy_has_common.md) design; Libreboot
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greatly expanded on it, on more machines.
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We in Libreboot have an affinity for the Heads project, and have worked with
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them in the past, and they with us, helping each other back and forth. Many of
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the machines supported in Libreboot are also supported in Heads, and vice versa,
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but they target different kinds of users and use-case scenarios, with Libreboot
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targeting a more general audience (while providing security hardening options),
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whereas Heads specifically targets security-conscious users.
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MrChromeBox
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-----------
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Website: <https://docs.mrchromebox.tech/>
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Git repositories: <https://github.com/MrChromebox/>
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Provides a tailored EDK2(UEFI) payload on supported *Chromebooks*. You can use
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this to replace ChromeOS with a regular Linux distro or BSD system - even
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Windows - if you wish.
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The benefit of using *MrChromebox* is that it provides up to date EDK2, unlike
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proprietary vendors who often provide old, CVE-ridden versions of EDK2 forks
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such as InsydeH2O.
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With MrChromebox's guidance, you can have a completely up to date UEFI firmware
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on your machine, and get good use out of your Chromebook for many more years,
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with regular security updates.
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Libreboot largely avoids supporting Chromebooks, precisely because Chultrabook
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and MrChromebox are perfectly viable options on these machines.
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Ownerboot
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---------
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Git repository: <https://codeberg.org/amjoseph/ownerboot>
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Ownerboot is an interesting one; it uses the Nix package manager to compile
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coreboot images, with a Linux-based payload on supported x86 and ARM64
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devices. Similar conceptually to Heads, but with a *much* cleaner build system
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design.
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It comes with the LVM2 and cryptsetup sources included in builds by default, so
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it can easily be used to create a fully encrypted system, much like Libreboot's
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own [hardened GRUB](docs/linux/grub_hardening.md) setup.
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Since it uses Nix, reproducible builds are quite feasible and this is one of
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the project's primary goals. Interestingly enough, it also supports both the
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gru kevin chromebook and the ASUS KGPE-D16 boards, which Libreboot supports but
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Libreboot uses U-Boot and a combination of SeaBIOS/GRUB, respectively, on these
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boards.
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Ownerboot's build system can also cross compile everything, so it's quite
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portable across various host CPUs. It also extends coreboot's normal/fallback
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payload scheme. See: <https://codeberg.org/amjoseph/ownerboot/src/branch/master/doc/fallback.md>
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All of this combined makes for a highly configurable boot setup, and the Linux
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payload in flash (using kexec to boot another kernel) is highly flexible,
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offering many opportunities for security hardening (like Heads).
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Skulls
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------
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Git repositories: <https://github.com/merge/skulls>
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Skulls provides simple coreboot images with SeaBIOS payload, on a handful of
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Thinkpads. Libreboot *also* provides similar SeaBIOS configurations, on all
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of the same machines, but Libreboot's design does mean that there are a few
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additional steps for installation.
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If you just want the simplest, most barebones setup, Skulls is a great choice.
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Libreboot *also* provides U-Boot and GRUB, and has other ambitions. Libreboot
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aims to provide ease of use while also providing great power and flexibility.
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So Libreboot is aimed specifically at power users, while also trying to
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accomodate non-technical users; Skulls largely targets the latter.
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System76 Open Firmware
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----------------------
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Git repository: <https://github.com/system76/firmware-open>
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Other repositories e.g. EC firmware: <https://github.com/system76>
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System76 provides their own special coreboot fork, that they tailor for
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specific machines that they sell; they also provide free EC firmware. Jeremy
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Soller of System76 maintains this firmware, and the work is regularly
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upstreamed into the regular coreboot project.
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System76 provides the coreboot firmware, along with EDK2 UEFI payload. It can
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boot Linux distros, BSD systems and even Windows perfectly.
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