libreboot!

this is forked from the "libre" branch in osboot, which is itself a libre,
deblobbed fork of osboot, a blobbed up fork of libreboot

libreboot needed to be purged clean. this is the new libreboot development
repository. the old one has been abandoned

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+
+Information about osboot can be found at <https://osboot.org/>
+This is the *libre* version of osboot, so it only has support for hardware that
+can boot without any binary blobs in the ROM image.
+
+This branch of osboot is basically pointless. It was created to then be forked
+and adapted for a new Libreboot release.
+
+Free your BIOS today! GNU GPL style
+===================================
+
+osboot is
+[freedom-respecting](https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html)
+*boot firmware* that initializes the hardware (e.g.
+memory controller, CPU, peripherals) in your computer so that software can run.
+osboot then starts a bootloader to load your operating system. It replaces the
+proprietary BIOS/UEFI firmware typically found on a computer. osboot is
+compatible with [specific computer models that use the Intel/AMD x86
+architecture](docs/hardware/). osboot works well with GNU+Linux and BSD
+operating systems. User support is available
+at [\#osboot](https://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=osboot) on Freenode
+IRC.
+
+osboot is a *Free Software* project, but can be considered Open Source.
+[The GNU website](https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.en.html)
+teaches why you should call it Free Software instead; alternatively, you may
+call it libre software.
+
+osboot uses [coreboot](https://www.coreboot.org/) for hardware initialization.
+However, *coreboot* is notoriously difficult to compile and install for most
+non-technical users. There are many complicated configuration steps required,
+and coreboot by itself is useless; coreboot only handles basic hardware
+initialization, and then jumps to a separate *payload* program. The payload
+program can be anything, for example a Linux kernel, bootloader (such as
+GNU GRUB), UEFI implementation (such as Tianocore) or BIOS implementation
+(such as SeaBIOS). While not quite as complicated as building a GNU+Linux
+distribution from scratch, it may aswell be as far as most non-technical users
+are concerned.
+
+osboot solves this problem in a novel way:
+osboot is a *coreboot distribution* much like Debian is a *GNU+Linux
+distribution*. osboot provides an *automated build system* that downloads,
+patches (where necessary) and compiles coreboot, GNU GRUB, various payloads and
+all other software components needed to build a complete, working *ROM image*
+that you can install to replace your current BIOS/UEFI firmware, much like a
+GNU+Linux distribution (e.g. Debian) provides an ISO image that you can use to
+replace your current operating system (e.g. Windows).
+
+Information about who works on osboot, and who runs the project, can be
+found on the [who.md](who.md) page.
+
+Why use osboot?
+==================
+
+[Free software](https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html) is important for
+the same reason that education is important.
+All children and adults alike should be entitled to a good education.
+Knowledge begs to be free! In the context of computing, this means that the
+source code should be fully available to study, and use in whatever way you
+see fit. In the context of computer hardware, this means that
+[Right to Repair](https://yewtu.be/watch?v=Npd_xDuNi9k)
+should be universal, with full access to documents such as the schematics and
+boardview files.
+
+**[The four freedoms are paramount!](https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html)**
+
+You have rights. The right to privacy, freedom of thought, freedom
+of speech and the right to read. In the context of computing, that means anyone
+can use [free software](https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html). Simply
+speaking, free software is software that is under the direct sovereignty of the
+user and, more importantly, the collective that is the *community*. osboot
+is dedicated to the Free Software community, with the aim of making free software
+at a *low level* more accessible to non-technical people.
+
+Many people use [proprietary](https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/proprietary.html)
+boot firmware, even if they use GNU+Linux. Non-free boot firmware often
+contains backdoors, can be slow and have severe bugs. Development and support
+can be abandoned at any time. By contrast, osboot is a free software project,
+where anyone can contribute or inspect its code.
+
+osboot is faster, more secure and more reliable than most non-free
+firmware. osboot provides many advanced features, like encrypted
+/boot/, GPG signature checking before booting a Linux kernel and more!
+osboot gives *you* control over *your* computing.
+
+Project goals
+-------------
+
+-   *Recommend and distribute only free software*. Coreboot
+    distributes certain pieces of proprietary software which is needed
+    on some systems. Examples can include things like CPU microcode
+    updates, memory initialization blobs and so on. The coreboot project
+    sometimes recommends adding more blobs which it does not distribute,
+    such as the Video BIOS or Intel's *Management Engine*. However, a
+    lot of dedicated and talented individuals in coreboot work hard to
+    replace these blobs whenever possible.
+-   *Support as much hardware as possible!* osboot supports less
+    hardware than coreboot, because most systems from coreboot still
+    require certain proprietary software to work properly. osboot is
+    an attempt to support as much hardware as possible, without any
+    proprietary software.
+-   *Make coreboot easy to use*. Coreboot is notoriously difficult
+    to install, due to an overall lack of user-focused documentation
+    and support. Most people will simply give up before attempting to
+    install coreboot.
+
+osboot attempts to bridge this divide by providing a build system
+automating much of the coreboot image creation and customization.
+Secondly, the project produces documentation aimed at non-technical users.
+Thirdly, the project attempts to provide excellent user support via mailing
+lists and IRC.
+
+osboot already comes with a payload (GRUB), flashrom and other
+needed parts. Everything is fully integrated, in a way where most of
+the complicated steps that are otherwise required, are instead done
+for the user in advance.
+
+You can download ROM images for your osboot system and install
+them without having to build anything from source. If, however, you are
+interested in building your own image, the build system makes it relatively
+easy to do so.
+
+Not a coreboot fork!
+--------------------
+
+osboot is not a fork of coreboot. Every so often, the project
+re-bases on the latest version of coreboot, with the number of custom
+patches in use minimized. Tested, *stable* (static) releases are then provided
+in osboot, based on specific coreboot revisions.
+
+Coreboot is not entirely free software. It has binary blobs in it for some
+platforms. What osboot does is download several revisions of coreboot, for
+different boards, and *de-blob* those coreboot revisions. This is done using
+the *linux-libre* deblob scripts, to find binary blobs in coreboot.
+
+All new coreboot development should be done in coreboot (upstream), not
+osboot! osboot is about deblobbing and packaging coreboot in a
+user-friendly way, where most work is already done for the user.
+
+For example, if you wanted to add a new board to osboot, you should
+add it to coreboot first. osboot will automatically receive your code
+at a later date, when it updates itself.
+
+The deblobbed coreboot tree used in osboot is referred to as
+*coreboot-libre*, to distinguish it as a component of *osboot*.
+
+A coreboot *fork* is planned for the future. Nowadays, coreboot drops support
+for boards that are "unmaintained", which in some cases just means that nobody
+submitted a new status update (to the *board-status* repository), so nowadays
+osboot must maintain multiple versions of coreboot. This is unsustainable,
+so a fork is planned, re-adding all of the deleted boards, backporting newer
+coreboot features and, possibly, having support for those boards re-merged
+upstream, where coreboot and the fork will share code back and forth. As of
+27 April 2021, work on this fork has not yet begun.
+
+