Complete Freedom: the Canoboot project as a path to perfect Open Source software

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Leah Rowe has introduced a free alternative to Libreboot.

Leah Rowe, the main developer and founder of the Libreboot distribution, introduced a new project called Canoboot. The project is being developed in parallel with Libreboot and is positioned as a completely free version of Libreboot that meets the strict standards of the Open Source Foundation. In the past, the project was called "unofficial GNU Boot", but due to legal claims from the creators, GNU Boot was renamed twice, and now it has received its final name-Manoeboot.

The new release of Manoeboot 20231026 is based on the recent version of Libreboot 20231021. The difference is that all components and changes that do not meet the requirements of the Open Source Foundation have been excluded from Canoneboot. This decision became necessary because the Open Source Foundation prohibits including binary firmware and driver components in free distributions. Libreboot has become less strict on this aspect in the last year in order to expand hardware support, which caused the loss of the status of a "completely free" distribution.

Canoneboot supports a wide range of devices, from server motherboards such as the ASUS KFSN4-DRE and ASUS KGPE-D16, to laptops including the popular Lenovo ThinkPad and Apple MacBook models. However, some models that are supported in Libreboot are not included in Canoboot.

Many changes and improvements have been implemented as part of the development of Canoboot:
  • Upgrade to the GRUB 2.12-rc loader branch.
  • Added support for LUKS2 encrypted partitions.
  • The lbmk build system has been significantly simplified.
  • Restructured directories for more convenient resource management.
  • Extended firmware support for various microcontrollers.
  • Updated the U-Boot loader to version 2023.10.
  • Synced with the current versions of the Coreboot and SeaBIOS repositories.
Canoboot is a response to the need for a completely free version of Libreboot, which meets the standards of the Open Source Foundation, and is likely to attract the attention of those who value software freedom and want to use a distribution that does not contain closed components.
 
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