[coreboot] Newbie questions

[Richard Green]

Hi,

I'm looking to build a headless system, mainly for messing around with  
Linux which I'd like to access remotely and via a serial console  
without the need for a keyboard and monitor. Unfortunately I don't  
really have the budget to buy a server motherboard and the kind of  
processor that goes with it (I already have a core 2 duo, so just plan  
to get a suitable motherboard for that), and so wont be able to run it  
headless and get a serial console from boot. I do realise that Linux  
can provide a serial console from grub, but I'd like to be able to  
reinstall and do everything without a monitor in the house.

My question is; If I got a supported motherboard and installed  
coreboot upon it, would I be able to configure it so that all output  
from power-on was redirected to a serial port on the motherboard, and  
all configuration could be completed using this method so that I could  
boot and install operating systems from CD, etc using just the serial  
console? Would it be completely supported by Linux or would there be  
any noticeable difference to, say using a standard motherboard with a  
standard BIOS?

Thanks for your help,
Rich