'100% Free' GNU Boot Discovers They've Been Shipping Non-Free Code - Again (phoronix.com)
(Sunday October 20, 2024 @11:34AM (EditorDavid)
from the GNU-for-nerds dept.)
- Reference: 0175287695
- News link: https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/10/20/022249/100-free-gnu-boot-discovers-theyve-been-shipping-non-free-code---again
- Source link: https://www.phoronix.com/news/GNU-Boot-Second-Fail
[1]Libreboot is a distribution of coreboot "aimed at replacing the proprietary BIOS firmware contained by most computers."
So then what exactly is [2]GNU Boot ? Its home page explains...
> In November 2022, Libreboot began to include non-libre code. We have made repeated efforts to continue collaboration with those developers to help their version of Libreboot remain libre, but that was [3]not successful . Now we've stepped forward to stand up for freedom, ours and that of the wider community, by maintaining our own version — a genuinely libre Libreboot, that after some hurdles gave birth to this project: GNU Boot.
But [4]today, Phoronix writes :
> While priding itself on being "100% free", last December [GNU Boot] had to [5]drop some motherboard support and CPU code after discovering they were shipping some files that are non-free by their free software standards. Today [6]they announced another mistake in having inadvertently been shipping additional non-free code.
>
> GNU Boot discovered an issue with non-free code affecting not only them but also some of the Linux distributions that pride themselves on being fully free software / 100% open-source. This latest snafu they say is "more problematic" than their prior non-free code discover due to impacting the free software Linux distributions too. The issue at hand though comes down to test data contained within the archive and that containing non-free code in the form of microcode, BIOS bits, and Intel Management Engine firmware.
"We also contacted Replicant..." [7]according to the announcement , "a free Android distro that also ships vboot source code." And in addition, "We had to re-release all the affected tarballs." (Which at this point is [8]three release candidates ...)
[1] https://libreboot.org/
[2] https://www.gnu.org/software/gnuboot/web/
[3] https://news.slashdot.org/story/23/07/30/0312206/libreboot-creator-says-after-coding-a-fork-for-gnu-boot-project-fsf-sent-a-cease-and-desist-letter-over-its-name
[4] https://www.phoronix.com/news/GNU-Boot-Second-Fail
[5] https://www.phoronix.com/news/GNU-Boot-Drops-Non-Free-Bits
[6] https://savannah.gnu.org/news/?id=10684
[7] https://savannah.gnu.org/news/?id=10684
[8] https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/gnuboot/
So then what exactly is [2]GNU Boot ? Its home page explains...
> In November 2022, Libreboot began to include non-libre code. We have made repeated efforts to continue collaboration with those developers to help their version of Libreboot remain libre, but that was [3]not successful . Now we've stepped forward to stand up for freedom, ours and that of the wider community, by maintaining our own version — a genuinely libre Libreboot, that after some hurdles gave birth to this project: GNU Boot.
But [4]today, Phoronix writes :
> While priding itself on being "100% free", last December [GNU Boot] had to [5]drop some motherboard support and CPU code after discovering they were shipping some files that are non-free by their free software standards. Today [6]they announced another mistake in having inadvertently been shipping additional non-free code.
>
> GNU Boot discovered an issue with non-free code affecting not only them but also some of the Linux distributions that pride themselves on being fully free software / 100% open-source. This latest snafu they say is "more problematic" than their prior non-free code discover due to impacting the free software Linux distributions too. The issue at hand though comes down to test data contained within the archive and that containing non-free code in the form of microcode, BIOS bits, and Intel Management Engine firmware.
"We also contacted Replicant..." [7]according to the announcement , "a free Android distro that also ships vboot source code." And in addition, "We had to re-release all the affected tarballs." (Which at this point is [8]three release candidates ...)
[1] https://libreboot.org/
[2] https://www.gnu.org/software/gnuboot/web/
[3] https://news.slashdot.org/story/23/07/30/0312206/libreboot-creator-says-after-coding-a-fork-for-gnu-boot-project-fsf-sent-a-cease-and-desist-letter-over-its-name
[4] https://www.phoronix.com/news/GNU-Boot-Second-Fail
[5] https://www.phoronix.com/news/GNU-Boot-Drops-Non-Free-Bits
[6] https://savannah.gnu.org/news/?id=10684
[7] https://savannah.gnu.org/news/?id=10684
[8] https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/gnuboot/