The LinuxBoot project has been around for almost two years, achieving significant progress during this time. This project positions itself as an open-source alternative to proprietary UEFI firmware. However, until recently, the system was rather limited. Now, Chris Koch from Google introduced the new version at the Security Summit 2019.
It is reported that the new LinuxBoot build supports booting Windows 10. It also works with VMware and Xen. Below is a video from the summit, and the presentation is available.
Notably, the first motherboard with LinuxBoot firmware was the Intel S2600wf. It was also used in Dell R630 servers. Specialists from Google, Facebook, Horizon Computing Solutions, and Two Sigma are involved in the project.
Within LinuxBoot, all components related to the Linux kernel are developed, and they will not be tied to a specific runtime environment. Coreboot, Uboot SPL, and UEFI PEI are used for hardware initialization. This will help block UEFI, SMM, and Intel ME background activities and enhance security, as proprietary firmware often contains numerous holes and vulnerabilities.
Furthermore, according to some reports, LinuxBoot can accelerate server boot time by tens of times by removing unused code and various types of optimizations. However, manufacturers are still reluctant to switch to LinuxBoot. Nevertheless, this attitude toward open source may change in the future, as the use of open firmware increases the likelihood of discovering vulnerabilities and speeds up the fixing process.
Source: 3dnews.ru
