[coreboot] Interesting (part of) article.

Jordan Crouse jordan at cosmicpenguin.net
Wed Dec 10 17:33:30 CET 2008


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




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