Libreboot 20230319 Released

#1

Post by leahlibre » Sun, Mar 19, 2023, 1:49 PM UTC

Libreboot 20230319 Released
libreboot.org

Re: Libreboot 20230319 Released

#2

Post by royjacobs » Sun, Mar 19, 2023, 2:59 PM UTC

Whenever I see news about libreboot the first thing that happens in my brain is that I somehow associate it with a library that handles rebooting. Takes a few seconds every time to, well, reboot my thoughts.

Re: Libreboot 20230319 Released

#3

Post by HeckFeck » Sun, Mar 19, 2023, 3:34 PM UTC

royjacobs wrote: post #2

Whenever I see news about libreboot the first thing that happens in my brain is that I somehow associate it with a library that handles rebooting. Takes a few seconds every time to, well, reboot my thoughts.

> library that handles rebooting

I know that one from somewhere, I think it is used heavily throughout Windows update.

Re: Libreboot 20230319 Released

#4

Post by aloisdg » Sun, Mar 19, 2023, 3:37 PM UTC

Nice usage of calver :)

Re: Libreboot 20230319 Released

#5

Post by sebazzz » Sun, Mar 19, 2023, 4:24 PM UTC

HeckFeck wrote: post #3

royjacobs wrote: post #2

Whenever I see news about libreboot the first thing that happens in my brain is that I somehow associate it with a library that handles rebooting. Takes a few seconds every time to, well, reboot my thoughts.

> library that handles rebooting I know that one from somewhere, I think it is used heavily throughout Windows update.

Actually, Windows (Update) is quite capable of hotpatching in-memory code. That why you can find two "mov eax, eax" instructions at the start of some functions. They allow hotpatching a long jmp there.

Re: Libreboot 20230319 Released

#6

Post by cwillu » Sun, Mar 19, 2023, 4:35 PM UTC

aloisdg wrote: post #4

Nice usage of calver :)

Dunno, seems like a great demonstration of a weakness: “This is marked as a testing release.” That used to be information the version number contained, now you have to find the small print that happens to mention it on the release notes.

Re: Libreboot 20230319 Released

#7

Post by Kwpolska » Sun, Mar 19, 2023, 4:41 PM UTC

cwillu wrote: post #6

aloisdg wrote: post #4

Nice usage of calver :)

Dunno, seems like a great demonstration of a weakness: “This is marked as a testing release.” That used to be information the version number contained, now you have to find the small print that happens to mention it on the release notes.

It seems that all of their recent releases are either testing releases ([1] [2]), or bug fix releases relative to testing releases ([3]), or bug fix releases relative to bug fix releases relative to testing releases ([4]).

[1] https://libreboot.org/news/libreboot20210522.html

[2] https://libreboot.org/news/libreboot20221214.html

[3] https://libreboot.org/news/libreboot20211122.html

[4] https://libreboot.org/news/libreboot20220710.html

Re: Libreboot 20230319 Released

#8

Post by russfink » Sun, Mar 19, 2023, 4:50 PM UTC

So how does this differ from making your own unified kernel image, ie a self-contained EFI boot file made from dracut or other? And does it work better with Secure Boot?

Re: Libreboot 20230319 Released

#9

Post by Kwpolska » Sun, Mar 19, 2023, 4:59 PM UTC

russfink wrote: post #8

So how does this differ from making your own unified kernel image, ie a self-contained EFI boot file made from dracut or other? And does it work better with Secure Boot?

Libreboot is a libre firmware replacement, not a bootloader. I doubt you’ll get Secure Boot with it.

Re: Libreboot 20230319 Released

#10

Post by Kwpolska » Sun, Mar 19, 2023, 5:00 PM UTC

The question is, why should I bother, as a regular user? What will libreboot improve on my x86_64 PC if all I need is the ability to boot into my preferred operating system and I don’t care about “freedom”, considering the machine already contains stuff like Intel ME that libreboot can’t disable?