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diff --git a/Documentation/distributions.md b/Documentation/distributions.md index 837a744544..eaa61be113 100644 --- a/Documentation/distributions.md +++ b/Documentation/distributions.md @@ -5,42 +5,57 @@ to build boot firmware for all kinds of purposes. These third-parties can be broadly separated in two groups: Those shipping coreboot on their hardware, and those providing after-market firmware to extend the usefulness of devices. -## Shipping coreboot on hardware + +## Hardware shipping with coreboot ### Purism -[Purism](https://www.puri.sm) sells laptops with a focus on privacy and -part of that is their push to remove as much unaccounted code (that is, -binary only) from their devices as possible. +[Purism](https://www.puri.sm) sells laptops with a focus on user privacy and +security; part of that effort is to minimize the amount of proprietary and/or +binary code. Their laptops ship with a blob-free OS and coreboot firmware +with a neutralized Intel Management Engine (ME) and SeaBIOS as the payload. + +### ChromeOS Devices + +All ChromeOS devices (Chromebooks, Chromeboxes, Chromebit, etc) released from +2012 onward use coreboot for their main system firmware. Additionally, starting +with the 2013 Chromebook Pixel, the firmware running on the Embedded Controller +(EC - a small microcontroller which provides functions like battery management, +keyboard support, and sensor interfacing) is open source as well. -### Chromebooks +### Libretrend -All Chromebooks (and related devices) that hit the market after 2013 are -using coreboot as their main firmware. And even the Embedded Controller, -a small microcontroller to support various peripherals (like battery -management or the keyboard) is running open source firmware. +[Libretrend](https://libretrend.com) sells the Librebox, a NUC-like PC which +ships with coreboot firmware. ## After-market firmware ### Libreboot -[Libreboot](https://libreboot.org) is a project that provides ready-made -binaries for platforms where those can be built entirely from source -code. Their copy of the coreboot repository is therefore stripped of -all devices that require binary components to boot. +[Libreboot](https://libreboot.org) is a downstream coreboot distribution that +provides ready-made firmware images for supported devices: those which can be +built entirely from source code. Their copy of the coreboot repository is +therefore stripped of all devices that require binary components to boot. -### Mr. Chromebox +### MrChromebox -[Matt Devo](https://mrchromebox.tech/) provides replacement firmware for -various Chromebooks. Why replace coreboot with coreboot? You might want -to do different things than what the Google engineers prepared for the -mass market, that's why. This firmware is "with training wheels off". +[MrChromebox](https://mrchromebox.tech/) provides upstream coreboot firmware +images for the vast majority of x86-based Chromebooks and Chromeboxes, using +Tianocore as the payload to provide a modern UEFI bootloader. Why replace +coreboot with coreboot? Mr Chromebox's images are built using upstream +coreboot (vs Google's older, static tree/branch), include many features and +fixes not found in the stock firmware, and offer much broader OS compatibility +(i.e., they run Windows as well as Linux). They also offer updated CPU +microcode, as well as firmware updates for the device's embedded controller +(EC). This firmware "takes the training wheels off" your ChromeOS device :) ### John Lewis -[John Lewis](https://johnlewis.ie/custom-chromebook-firmware) also -provides replacements for Chromebook firmware, for the same reasons -as Mr. Chromebox. It's a somewhat different set of devices, and with -different configurations, so check out both if Chromebooks are what -you're dealing with. +[John Lewis](https://johnlewis.ie/custom-chromebook-firmware) also provides +replacement firmware for ChromeOS devices, for the express purpose of +running Linux on Chromebooks. John Lewis' firmware supports a much smaller +set of devices, and uses SeaBIOS as the payload to support Legacy BIOS booting. +His firmware images are significantly older, and not actively maintained or +supported, but worth a look if you need Legacy Boot support and is not +available via Mr Chromebox's firmware. |