Libreboot has announced the release of the free loading firmware Libreboot 20241008, which is considered an experimental issue. The focus of this release is on the development of functionality, as stable releases typically contain corrections and are published approximately once a year, with the last stable release being in June. This project extends the work of the Coreboot project, providing an open-source alternative to proprietary firmware like UEFI and BIOS, which initialize CPU, memory, peripheral devices, and other hardware components with minimized binary inserts, as outlined in their policy.
Libreboot aims to create a comprehensive environment that reduces reliance on proprietary software, not only at the operating system level but also within the firmware that facilitates booting. By simplifying the user experience, Libreboot complements Coreboot by offering a ready-made distribution that can be easily used by end-users, even those without specialized skills.
The latest version of Libreboot includes enhancements such as reducing the code base and streamlining the assembly system. The size of the shell-scripts involved in the assembly process has been decreased from 1482 to 1159 lines of code without sacrificing functionality. Additionally, support has been added for the Sony PlayStation 1 gaming console, utilizing open bios code from the PCSX Redux project. Furthermore, support has been extended to five models of Dell Latitude laptops (E6220, E6320, E6330, E6230, E4300) and three models of Dell Optiplex PCs (3050 Micro, 7010 SFF, 9010 SFF). Code base synchronization was performed with Coreboot as of July 29, Seabios as of June 24, Flashprog as of August 2, GRUB as of June 17, and U-boot updated to version 2024.07.
Supported equipment in Libreboot includes:
- Server motherboards:
- asus kfsn4-dre