Why Replace Proprietary BIOS and UEFI with the Fully Free GNU Boot Firmware
The Free Software Foundation announced in September 2026 that it is providing financial and legal support to the GNU Boot project, which aims to deliver a completely open-source replacement for traditional BIOS and UEFI firmware. GNU Boot builds on coreboot to initialize hardware at boot time and layers a free bootloader such as GRUB or SeaBIOS on top, ensuring no proprietary binary blobs are required. The initiative emerged after a 2022 split from Libreboot, which began accepting closed-source components to broaden hardware support, while GNU Boot strictly adheres to GNU licensing criteria that prohibit any non-free code. Supported platforms remain limited to older systems from roughly 2008–2012, including specific ThinkPad models, certain early Apple MacBooks, and a handful of AMD and Intel desktop boards, because newer Intel Boot Guard and AMD equivalent mechanisms enforce signed firmware that prevents unsigned replacements. Closed firmware from Intel Management Engine and AMD Platform Security Processor runs before the main operating system, possesses unrestricted memory access, and cannot be audited or disabled on most modern hardware. By offering reproducible builds and clearer installation instructions, GNU Boot seeks to lower the barrier for users who want to eliminate potential backdoors, Wi-Fi whitelist restrictions, and forced updates found in vendor firmware.
HabrOct 23, 2026Translated from Russian