Matt DeVillier has uploaded this change for review. ( https://review.coreboot.org/c/coreboot/+/31252
Change subject: Documentation: update/improve distribution listing ......................................................................
Documentation: update/improve distribution listing
- improve descriptions of Purism and ChromeOS hardware - add entry for Libretrend Librebox - improve description of Mr Chromebox and John Lewis' 3rd party ChromeOS firmware offerings
Change-Id: I66bd1a3701091e499d88738a7c06126de66e58ff Signed-off-by: Matt DeVillier matt.devillier@gmail.com --- M Documentation/distributions.md 1 file changed, 37 insertions(+), 22 deletions(-)
git pull ssh://review.coreboot.org:29418/coreboot refs/changes/52/31252/1
diff --git a/Documentation/distributions.md b/Documentation/distributions.md index 837a744..b89e295 100644 --- a/Documentation/distributions.md +++ b/Documentation/distributions.md @@ -5,42 +5,57 @@ broadly separated in two groups: Those shipping coreboot on their hardware, and those providing after-market firmware to extend the usefulness of devices.
-## Shipping coreboot on hardware + +## Hardware shipping with coreboot
### Purism
-[Purism](https://www.puri.sm) sells laptops with a focus on privacy and -part of that is their push to remove as much unaccounted code (that is, -binary only) from their devices as possible. +[Purism](https://www.puri.sm) sells laptops with a focus on user privacy and +security; part of that effort is to minimize the amount of proprietary and/or +binary code. Their laptops ship with a blob-free OS and coreboot firmware +with a neutralized Intel Management Engine (ME) and SeaBIOS as the payload.
-### Chromebooks +### ChromeOS Devices
-All Chromebooks (and related devices) that hit the market after 2013 are -using coreboot as their main firmware. And even the Embedded Controller, -a small microcontroller to support various peripherals (like battery -management or the keyboard) is running open source firmware. +All ChromeOS devices (Chromebooks, Chromeboxes, Chromebit, etc) released from +2012 on use coreboot for their main system firmware. Additionally, starting with +the 2013 Chromebook Pixel, the firmware running the Embedded Controller (EC - +a small microcontroller which provides functions like battery management, keyboard +support, and sensor interfacing) is open source as well. + +### Libretrend + +[Libretrend](https://libretrend.com) sells the Librebox, a NUC-like PC +which chips with coreboot firmware.
## After-market firmware
### Libreboot
-[Libreboot](https://libreboot.org) is a project that provides ready-made -binaries for platforms where those can be built entirely from source -code. Their copy of the coreboot repository is therefore stripped of -all devices that require binary components to boot. +[Libreboot](https://libreboot.org) is a downstream coreboot distribution that +provides ready-made binaries for supported devices/platforms, where those can +be built entirely from source code. Their copy of the coreboot repository is +therefore stripped of all devices that require binary components to boot.
### Mr. Chromebox
-[Matt Devo](https://mrchromebox.tech/) provides replacement firmware for -various Chromebooks. Why replace coreboot with coreboot? You might want -to do different things than what the Google engineers prepared for the -mass market, that's why. This firmware is "with training wheels off". +[Mr Chromebox](https://mrchromebox.tech/) provides upstream coreboot +firmware images for the vast majority of x86-based Chromebooks and Chromeboxes, + using Tianocore as the payload to provide a modern UEFI bootloader. Why +replace coreboot with coreboot? Mr Chromebox's images are built using upstream +coreboot, include many features and fixes not found in the stock firmware, and +offer much broader OS compatibility (i.e,, they run Windows as well as Linux). +They also offer updated CPU microcode, as well as firmware updates for the +device's embedded controller (EC). +This firmware "takes the training wheels off" your ChromeOS device :)
### John Lewis
-[John Lewis](https://johnlewis.ie/custom-chromebook-firmware) also -provides replacements for Chromebook firmware, for the same reasons -as Mr. Chromebox. It's a somewhat different set of devices, and with -different configurations, so check out both if Chromebooks are what -you're dealing with. +[John Lewis](https://johnlewis.ie/custom-chromebook-firmware) also provides +replacement firmware for ChromeOS devices, for the express purpose of +running Linux on Chromebooks. John Lewis' firmware supports a much smaller +set of devices, and uses SeaBIOS as the payload to support Legacy BIOS booting. +His firmware images are a good deal older, and not actively maintained or +supported, but worth a look if you need Legacy Boot support and is not +available via Mr Chromebox's firmware.