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authorFrancis Rowe <info@gluglug.org.uk>2015-01-29 08:45:29 (EST)
committer Francis Rowe <info@gluglug.org.uk>2015-01-29 08:45:29 (EST)
commitd7e49668bf408e2c4b9adebd10646a9a94596aca (patch)
tree579dd44af997a3044a71e66d00710605c2d5a793 /docs
parent81bad75abf3cf4a97da6fe4f58a6eb0d6cd8359e (diff)
downloadlibreboot-d7e49668bf408e2c4b9adebd10646a9a94596aca.zip
libreboot-d7e49668bf408e2c4b9adebd10646a9a94596aca.tar.gz
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docs/index.html: Re-write the description of what libreboot is.
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1 files changed, 36 insertions, 11 deletions
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@@ -105,7 +105,8 @@
<p>
Libreboot is a <a href="http://coreboot.org/">coreboot</a> distribution (distro) with proprietary software removed,
intended to be a <a href="https://www.fsf.org/about/what-is-free-software">free</a>
- (libre) 'BIOS' replacement for your computer.
+ (libre) 'BIOS' replacement for your computer. The project is aimed at users, attempting to make
+ coreboot as easy to use as possible. <a href="docs/index.html#why">More about libreboot</a>.
</p>
<p>
@@ -113,17 +114,42 @@
</p>
<h2>
- Project goals (and differences versus coreboot):
+ The libreboot project has two main goals:
</h2>
<ul>
<li>
- Coreboot contains blobs (proprietary data/code) and libreboot does not (it intentionally removes them).
+ <i><u>Recommend and distribute and only <b>free software</b></u></i>. The coreboot project distributes proprietary code/blobs on some computers;
+ this can include things like CPU microcode updates, memory initialization code and so on. The project also actively
+ recommends that the user install additional blobs in some cases (such as the video BIOS or VBIOS, Intel ME and so on).
+ While this can be necessary from the coreboot project's point of view, Libreboot is an attempt to support as many
+ computers from coreboot as possible, without distributing any blobs and without having the user install additional
+ proprietary software. This is not to say that the coreboot project is bad; a lot of extremely dedicated and talented
+ individuals in coreboot work night and day to reverse engineer and free those blobs that still remain in coreboot.
+ <b>Any system from coreboot that can run without blobs is a viable libreboot candidate!</b>
</li>
<li>
- Coreboot is hacker-friendly and focuses on software developers, libreboot is user-focused and attempts to
- turn coreboot into a distribution, sort of like a GNU/Linux distribution (same concept, different software). For example, libreboot
- distributes GRUB/memtest86+/bucts/flashrom (and more) and comes with user-focused documentation and build scripts; libreboot
- is therefore made more 'user-friendly'.
+ <i><u>Make coreboot easy to use</u></i>. The main problem that many users have with coreboot is that it is extremely difficult to
+ understand, learn about, install and use. This is understandable; coreboot is a low-level peice of software and has many
+ talented individuals working on it, but the project's resources are limited and so the developers focus their efforts on the code.
+ Coreboot offers wonderful support for other coreboot developers and those who wish to climb up
+ that steep curve to learn everything that they can.<br/><br/>
+
+ At the same time, those who simply want to use coreboot (for any number
+ of reasons) are often left feeling intimidated and many of them give up in frustration. Libreboot attempts to bridge this gap;
+ its documentation is entirely focussed on users, with detailed steps showing exactly how to install and use it and the issues
+ that they may come across (and how to work around them).<br/><br/>
+
+ Almost everything in libreboot is completely automated, with
+ scripts for downloading, building and installing the various components used in libreboot. Pre-compiled ROM images built
+ from the libreboot source code are provided, along with the utilities (statically compiled, from libreboot sources) that the user will need for installing them.<br/><br/>
+
+ Libreboot is similar in concept to a GNU/Linux or GNU/Linux-libre distribution; it is composed of not just coreboot (deblobbed),
+ but everything else that the user will need such and GRUB, flashrom, and so on. These are all fully integrated, in a way where
+ most of the detailed steps otherwise required of the user (if they used coreboot, the upstream provider) are completely eliminated.<br/><br/>
+
+ In much the same way as you can simply download an ISO image for your favourite GNU/Linux-libre distribution, and install it,
+ you can download pre-compiled libreboot ROM images (built from the sources) along with installation scripts and documentation
+ that make libreboot as easy to use as possible.
</li>
</ul>
@@ -142,9 +168,8 @@
</p>
<p>
- <i>Libreboot</i> as a whole is the distribution distributed deblobbed. However, the core part is coreboot:
- libreboot's deblobbed coreboot tree is named <i>coreboot-libre</i> to distinguish it as a component of <i>libreboot</i>.
- (if that makes sense).
+ <i>Libreboot</i> as a whole is the distribution consisting of everything surrounding coreboot. However, the main component is coreboot:
+ libreboot's deblobbed coreboot tree is sometimes referred to as <i>coreboot-libre</i> to distinguish it as a component of <i>libreboot</i>.
</p>
<h2>
@@ -177,7 +202,7 @@
<hr/>
<p>
- Copyright &copy; 2014 Francis Rowe &lt;info@gluglug.org.uk&gt;<br/>
+ Copyright &copy; 2015 Francis Rowe &lt;info@gluglug.org.uk&gt;<br/>
This document is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International Public License and all future versions.
A copy of the license can be found at <a href="license.txt">license.txt</a>.
</p>