Tiago Marques wrote:
Probably, almost surely, most of the manufacturers never heard of Coreboot or, if they did, don't know the current state of the project and if they can use it or not.
I think that *pushing Coreboot as a plus for the enthusiast* would be something to look into. Hardware enthusiasts are tweakers and, as such, like to tweak, what better than offer them open-source code? It may not appeal to all but it may for some. If manufacturers like the idea, than they'll probably look into it.
Coreboot is in a difficult position - because in order to turn it into a plus for the enthusiast, we need the vendors. Unlike 99% of open source projects, the success of coreboot is directly dependent on the individual motherboard vendors. If I have a random x86 based motherboard, then there is a better the likely chance that Linux will run on it, albeit with legacy drivers. But if I have a random x86 based motherboard, then there is no chance that it will work with coreboot, unless the coreboot code specifically supports the *exact* same model. Linux and other open source projects started life as an alternative - most of the successful ones are alternatives that could be developed and dropped in by the regular Joe. Coreboot cannot be dropped in by the regular Joe - we need vendor support - without it, this project is relegated to qemu.
Marketing ourselves to enthusiasts only works if we support the same sort of hardware the enthusiasts use - and for the most part, we don't. If you want to hack on a VIA or a Geode, then for sure - come see us, but not many Geode users read Anandtech.
This is only my opinion, so take it as you will, but I think that the only path to success is through the vendors first, and the end users second.
Jordan