-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-LinuxBIOS README
+coreboot README
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-LinuxBIOS is a Free Software project aimed at replacing the proprietary
-BIOS you can find in most of today's computers.
+coreboot is a Free Software project aimed at replacing the proprietary BIOS
+(firmware) found in most computers. coreboot performs a little bit of
+hardware initialization and then executes additional boot logic, called a
+payload.
-It performs just a little bit of hardware initialization and then executes
-one of many possible payloads, e.g. a Linux kernel.
+With the separation of hardware initialization and later boot logic,
+coreboot can scale from specialized applications that run directly
+firmware, run operating systems in flash, load custom
+bootloaders, or implement firmware standards, like PC BIOS services or
+UEFI. This allows for systems to only include the features necessary
+in the target application, reducing the amount of code and flash space
+required.
+
+coreboot was formerly known as LinuxBIOS.
Payloads
--------
After the basic initialization of the hardware has been performed, any
-desired "payload" can be started by LinuxBIOS. Examples include:
+desired "payload" can be started by coreboot.
- * A Linux kernel
- * FILO (a simple bootloader with filesystem support)
- * OpenBIOS (a free IEEE1275-1994 Open Firmware implementation)
- * Etherboot (for network booting and booting from raw IDE or FILO)
- * ADLO (for booting Windows 2000 or OpenBSD)
- * Plan 9 (a distributed operating system)
- * memtest86 (for testing your RAM)
+See http://www.coreboot.org/Payloads for a list of supported payloads.
Supported Hardware
------------------
-LinuxBIOS supports a wide range of chipsets, devices, and mainboards.
+coreboot supports a wide range of chipsets, devices, and mainboards.
For details please consult:
- * http://www.linuxbios.org/Supported_Motherboards
- * http://www.linuxbios.org/Supported_Chipsets_and_Devices
+ * http://www.coreboot.org/Supported_Motherboards
+ * http://www.coreboot.org/Supported_Chipsets_and_Devices
+
+
+Build Requirements
+------------------
+
+ * gcc / g++
+ * make
+
+Optional:
+
+ * doxygen (for generating/viewing documentation)
+ * iasl (for targets with ACPI support)
+ * gdb (for better debugging facilities on some targets)
+ * ncurses (for 'make menuconfig')
+ * flex and bison (for regenerating parsers)
+
+
+Building coreboot
+-----------------
+
+Please consult http://www.coreboot.org/Build_HOWTO for details.
+
+
+Testing coreboot Without Modifying Your Hardware
+------------------------------------------------
+
+If you want to test coreboot without any risks before you really decide
+to use it on your hardware, you can use the QEMU system emulator to run
+coreboot virtually in QEMU.
+
+Please see http://www.coreboot.org/QEMU for details.
Website and Mailing List
------------------------
Further details on the project, a FAQ, many HOWTOs, news, development
-guidelines and more can be found on the LinuxBIOS website:
+guidelines and more can be found on the coreboot website:
- http://www.linuxbios.org
+ http://www.coreboot.org
-You can contact us directly on the LinuxBIOS mailing list:
+You can contact us directly on the coreboot mailing list:
- http://www.linuxbios.org/Mailinglist
+ http://www.coreboot.org/Mailinglist
Copyright and License
---------------------
-The copyright on LinuxBIOS is owned by quite a large number of individual
+The copyright on coreboot is owned by quite a large number of individual
developers and companies. Please check the individual source files for details.
-LinuxBIOS is licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL).
+coreboot is licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL).
Some files are licensed under the "GPL (version 2, or any later version)",
-and some files (mostly those derived from the Linux kernel) are licensed under
-the "GPL, version 2". For some parts, which were derived from other projects,
-other (GPL-compatible) licenses may apply. Please check the individual
-source files for details.
+and some files are licensed under the "GPL, version 2". For some parts, which
+were derived from other projects, other (GPL-compatible) licenses may apply.
+Please check the individual source files for details.
+
+This makes the resulting coreboot images licensed under the GPL, version 2.
projects / coreboot.git / blobdiff