Please clarify wiki on git vs releases

[Ian Kelling]

The release readme says to read http://www.coreboot.org/Build_HOWTO,
which says to use the latest git sources. The mainpage of the wiki is a
bit ambiguous, but also leads to that same link under getting
started. So, you've given the impression that the latest git sources are
what's recommended to users.

It seems a bit odd to recommend users to use latest git sources on
something that can easily cause their system to not boot.

[Peter Stuge]

Ian Kelling wrote:
> It seems a bit odd to recommend users to use latest git sources on
> something that can easily cause their system to not boot.

If you want to overwrite your bootflash then you should ensure that
you will be able to recover from a non-working image.

Don't risk flashing a random binary (including self-built) without a
recovery method.

coreboot of course strives to do some QA, but as you know, GPL software
comes with NO WARRANTY.

//Peter

[David Hendricks]

On Sat, Sep 9, 2017 at 4:43 PM, Ian Kelling  wrote:
> The release readme says to read http://www.coreboot.org/Build_HOWTO,
> which says to use the latest git sources. The mainpage of the wiki is a
> bit ambiguous, but also leads to that same link under getting
> started. So, you've given the impression that the latest git sources are
> what's recommended to users.

I updated the wiki to suggest that the user might wish to check the
supported motherboards page (https://www.coreboot.org/Supported_Motherboards)
to see if their mainboard is known to work with a particular git hash.

If not, then the latest sources probably are the best bet (though obviously
not guaranteed).
> It seems a bit odd to recommend users to use latest git sources on
> something that can easily cause their system to not boot.

[Ian Kelling]

Martin also replied, accidentally off-list, it's below.

Thank you for the replies. As is often the case, it was there, I just
hadn't read enough of the manual.

- Ian

Martin Roth  writes:
> Hi Ian,
>
> We do recommend that you use the latest git repository unless you have
> a specific reason not to.  While we do test the releases on some
> boards, we don't currently have ANY way to test all of the boards in
> the git repository, so there's no guarantee that the release works for
> that board. If you want something stable, your best bet is to check
> the supported boards page and use a tested git commit for your board:
> https://www.coreboot.org/Supported_Motherboards
>
> As it says on the download page:
> "coreboot releases are done twice a year. In general these releases
> are done for OEM/ODM's and other groups who want a "stable" release
> base. If you are a developer or end user, we recommend that you use
> the master branch of the coreboot repository."
>
> We also HIGHLY recommend that people have a way to restore their
> system if they flash something that doesn't boot.  Because it's almost
> CERTAIN that at some point, if you're building your own ROM, you're
> going to flash something that doesn't boot.
>
> Martin
>
> On Sat, Sep 9, 2017 at 5:43 PM, Ian Kelling  wrote:
> > The release readme says to read http://www.coreboot.org/Build_HOWTO,
> > which says to use the latest git sources. The mainpage of the wiki is a
> > bit ambiguous, but also leads to that same link under getting
> > started. So, you've given the impression that the latest git sources are
> > what's recommended to users.
> >
> > It seems a bit odd to recommend users to use latest git sources on
> > something that can easily cause their system to not boot.