diff --git a/site/index.it.md b/site/index.it.md index fb1c66412cf02270db2af9fdbe1a107f8fd96cc1..cee8229ad3a7cc1ba65a7b2ec82810de016a2b0c 100644 --- a/site/index.it.md +++ b/site/index.it.md @@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ title: Progetto Canoeboot x-toc-enable: true ... -Il progetto *Canoeboot* fornisce avvio [libero e open source](https://writefreesoftware.org/learn) +Il progetto *Canoeboot* fornisce avvio [libero](https://writefreesoftware.org/learn) grazie al firmware basato su coreboot, sostituendo cosi', firmware BIOS/UEFI proprietario su [alcune schede madri basate su Intel/AMD x86 o ARM](docs/hardware/), in computer fissi e portatili. Inizializza l'hardware (controller di diff --git a/site/index.md b/site/index.md index 6586b16c81b511fad96fe518b3d3e6e9f2fbd298..049e57dc7af8a1c0f84098379472da5b1e39c2d2 100644 --- a/site/index.md +++ b/site/index.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ x-toc-enable: true ... The *Canoeboot* project provides -[free, open source](https://writefreesoftware.org/learn) (*libre*) boot +[free](https://writefreesoftware.org/learn) (*libre*) boot firmware based on coreboot, replacing proprietary BIOS/UEFI firmware on [specific Intel/AMD x86 and ARM based motherboards](docs/hardware/), including laptop and desktop computers. It initialises the hardware (e.g. memory diff --git a/site/news/MANIFEST b/site/news/MANIFEST index bc47213113a9fa960ddaca45cf4f21c19610b90a..460bcc9f19e57cfe3378184486a51c3ca197465d 100644 --- a/site/news/MANIFEST +++ b/site/news/MANIFEST @@ -1,3 +1,4 @@ +canoeboot20240510.md canoeboot20240504.md canoeboot20231107.md canoeboot20231103.md diff --git a/site/news/canoeboot20240504.md b/site/news/canoeboot20240504.md index 33cf769bf44e52a394da7ba904ce088e82b4caaa..32899a7cffcab6f00d07ba1441726b4bd53f27b4 100644 --- a/site/news/canoeboot20240504.md +++ b/site/news/canoeboot20240504.md @@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ Introduction ============ -Canoeboot is a free/open source BIOS/UEFI replacement on x86 and ARM, providing +Canoeboot is a free/libre BIOS/UEFI replacement on x86 and ARM, providing boot firmware that initialises the hardware in your computer, to then load an operating system (e.g. Linux/BSD). It is specifically a *coreboot distribution*, in the same way that Trisquel is a GNU+Linux distribution. It provides an automated diff --git a/site/news/canoeboot20240510.md b/site/news/canoeboot20240510.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..0d28a73ca554ec4b173519cd4a70feec883c2879 --- /dev/null +++ b/site/news/canoeboot20240510.md @@ -0,0 +1,174 @@ +% Canoeboot 20240510 released! +% Leah Rowe +% 10 May 2024 + +Introduction +============ + +Canoeboot is a [free/libre](https://writefreesoftware.org/) BIOS/UEFI replacement +on x86 and ARM, providing +boot firmware that initialises the hardware in your computer, to then load an +operating system (e.g. GNU+Linux). It is specifically a *coreboot distribution*, +in the same way that Trisquel is a GNU+Linux distribution. It provides an automated +build system to produce coreboot ROM images with a variety of payloads such as +GNU GRUB or SeaBIOS, with regular well-tested releases to make coreboot as easy +to use as possible for non-technical users. From a project management perspective, +this works in *exactly* the same way as a GNU+Linux distro, providing the same type +of infrastructure, but for your boot firmware instead of your operating system. +It makes use of [coreboot](https://www.coreboot.org/) for hardware initialisation, +and then a payload such as [SeaBIOS](https://www.seabios.org/SeaBIOS) +or [GNU GRUB](https://www.gnu.org/software/grub/) to boot your operating +system; on ARM(chromebooks), we provide *U-Boot* (as a coreboot payload). + +Canoeboot provides many additional benefits such as fast boot speeds, greater +security and greater customisation, but the *primary* benefit +is [software freedom](https://writefreesoftware.org/learn). With use of GRUB +in the flash, you can make use of many advanced features such as the ability +to [boot from an encrypted /boot partition](../docs/gnulinux/) +and [verify kernel GPG signature at boot time](../docs/gnulinux/grub_hardening.md). + +If you're fed up of the control that proprietary UEFI vendors have over you, +then Canoeboot is *for you*. Although many would agree that it is a major step +forward for most users, it's actually a very old idea. Old is often better. It used to +be that computers were much more open for learning, and tinkering. Canoeboot +implements this old idea in spirit and in practise, helping you wrest back control. + +Unlike the hardware vendors, Canoeboot does not see *you* as a *security threat*; +we regard the ability to use, study, modify and redistribute software freely to +be a human right that everyone *must* have, and the same is true of hardware. +Your computer is *your property* to use as you wish. Free Software protects you, +by ensuring that you always have control of the machine. + +*This* new release, Canoeboot 20240510, released today 10 May 2024, is +a new *stable* release of Canoeboot. The *previous* release was +Canoeboot 20240504, just *6 days ago*. This is a minor release, with minimal +changes; if you already installed Canoeboot 20240504, you probably don't need +to update, but the *SeaBIOS* revision was updated, and has some fixes. + +Changes in this release +======================= + +*Extensive* changes have been made to the documentation and website, which you +may or may not notice. I won't say what they are. You'll just have to review the +git log yourself :) + +There was originally a long-winded article about these changes, which could +have sparked a major international incident. They very nature and purpose of +those changes means that direct discussion of them, even in the most diplomatic way +possible and with the most amount of brevity, would completely defeat the purpose +of said changes. I've deleted that article, prior to publishing. + +Said article will never be published. I will never discuss it. I will ignore +all questions, provocations or praise pertaining to said changes. +Not making reference to them in any way would also be bad; making +cryptic reference to it is optimal, so that is what I've done, now. + +If you now go and look at said changes, I will say only one thing further: + +Probably nothing will happen, but I'm leaving everything open to interpretation. +Who knows what will happen? Stay tuned to find out. Or not. Again, it could be +that *nothing* happens. In fact, it's extremely likely that *nothing* will +happen; we shall see. + +The gravity of this change means that I *must* make reference to it, albeit +indirectly. What I will say is this: my opinions have not changed at all. I +remain resolute and steadfast in my resolve. I'm simply taking a completely +different approach from now on. It is an approach that those familiar with the +history of Canoeboot probably never expected I'd ever take. + +ALSO: + +Build system changes +------------------- + +The following improvements have been made, most of them not affecting the +final build (the actual code that goes in-flash): + +* bump seabios (payload) to the latest upstream revision as of today +* main `build` script: exit (with non-zero status) if not running it from the + main cbmk work directory (the design of cbmk makes this mandatory) +* merge `script/build/serprog` into `script/build/roms` - now you + run e.g. `./build roms serprog rp2040` instead of `./build serprog rp2040` +* merge `include/err.sh` into `include/option.sh` +* build/roms: more code cleanup in general +* build/roms: split up `main()` into smaller functions +* build/roms: allow status search by mismatch (e.g. list all targets that + are *not* stable, instead of only being able to list ones that are) +* Update the `README.md` file, applying the same change as described + above (adopt a neutral/concilliatory tone toward FSF/GNU, and don't tell + everyone Libreboot is a superior project that everyone should use). + +Regarding SeaBIOS, the following upstream changes have been merged into +this Canoeboot release: + +``` + * e5f2e4c6 pciinit: don't misalign large BARs + * 731c88d5 stdvgaio: Only read/write one color palette entry at a time + * c5a361c0 stdvga: Add stdvga_set_vertical_size() helper function + * 22c91412 stdvga: Rename stdvga_get_vde() to stdvga_get_vertical_size() + * 549463db stdvga: Rename stdvga_set_scan_lines() to stdvga_set_character_height() + * c67914ac stdvga: Rename stdvga_set_text_block_specifier() to stdvga_set_font_location() + * aa94925d stdvga: Rework stdvga palette index paging interface functions + * 8de51a5a stdvga: Rename stdvga_toggle_intensity() to stdvga_set_palette_blinking() + * 96c7781f stdvga: Add comments to interface functions in stdvga.c + * 2996819f stdvga: Rename CGA palette functions + * 91368088 stdvgamodes: Improve naming of dac palette tables + * 70f43981 stdvgamodes: No need to store pelmask in vga_modes[] + * 1588fd14 vgasrc: Rename vgahw_get_linesize() to vgahw_minimum_linelength() + * d73e18bb vgasrc: Use curmode_g instead of vmode_g when mode is the current video mode + * 192e23b7 vbe: implement function 09h (get/set palette data) + * 3722c21d vgasrc: round up save/restore size + * 5d87ff25 vbe: Add VBE 2.0+ OemData field to struct vbe_info + * 163fd9f0 fix smbios blob length overflow + * 82faf1d5 Add LBA 64bit support for reads beyond 2TB. + * 3f082f38 Add AHCI Power ON + ICC_ACTIVE into port setup code + * 3ae88886 esp-scsi: terminate DMA transfer when ESP data transfer completes + * a6ed6b70 limit address space used for pci devices. +``` + +And that's all. If you installed Canoeboot 20240504, you probably don't need +to update to today's release. If you *didn't* install 20240504, then you may +aswell update to today's release (Canoeboot 20240510). + +Hardware supported in this release +================================== + +This release supports the following hardware: + +### Servers (AMD, x86) + +- [ASUS KFSN4-DRE motherboard](../docs/hardware/kfsn4-dre.md) +- [ASUS KGPE-D16 motherboard](../docs/hardware/kgpe-d16.md) + +### Desktops (AMD, Intel, x86) + +- [Acer G43T-AM3](../docs/hardware/acer_g43t-am3.md) +- [Apple iMac 5,2](../docs/hardware/imac52.md) +- [ASUS KCMA-D8 motherboard](../docs/hardware/kcma-d8.md) +- [Gigabyte GA-G41M-ES2L motherboard](../docs/hardware/ga-g41m-es2l.md) +- [Intel D510MO and D410PT motherboards](../docs/hardware/d510mo.md) +- [Intel D945GCLF](../docs/hardware/d945gclf.md) + +### Laptops (Intel, x86) + +- [Apple MacBook1,1 and MacBook2,1](../docs/hardware/macbook21.md) +- [Dell Latitude E6400, E6400 XFR and E6400 ATG, with Intel + GPU](../docs/hardware/e6400.md) +- [Lenovo ThinkPad R400](../docs/hardware/r400.md) +- [Lenovo ThinkPad R500](../docs/hardware/r500.md) +- [Lenovo ThinkPad T400 / T400S](../docs/hardware/t400.md) +- [Lenovo ThinkPad T500](../docs/hardware/t500.md) +- [Lenovo ThinkPad W500](../docs/hardware/t500.md) +- [Lenovo ThinkPad X200 / X200S / X200 Tablet](../docs/hardware/x200.md) +- Lenovo ThinkPad X301 +- Lenovo ThinkPad X60 / X60S / X60 Tablet + +### Laptops (ARM, with U-Boot payload) + +- [ASUS Chromebook Flip C101 (gru-bob)](../docs/install/chromebooks.md) +- [Samsung Chromebook Plus (v1) (gru-kevin)](../docs/install/chromebooks.md) + +Again, very minor release. I wasn't fully happy with the last one, specifically +the last Canoeboot release, so I decided to another quick one. + +That is all.