[coreboot] EFI strategy

[Brendan Trotter]

Hi,

Sorry for the interruption, but...

On 2/9/08, ron minnich <rminnich at gmail.com> wrote:
> I think it would be interesting to have a buildrom option for 'build EFI'.

It'd be much more interesting to have no buildrom options for payloads
at all. Let the user install their own payload *after* coreboot is
installed.

Why? So motherboard manufactures for a wide range of hardware (e.g.
embedded, desktop and server) can install coreboot as default on all
motherboards.

It's better for the motherboard manufacturer, who would be freed from
the hassle of deciding whether to use PC BIOS or EFI or GRUB or
whatever.

It's also better for the end-user, who isn't stuck with the
manufacturers choice of payload and doesn't need to get their hands
dirty with compilers and compile-time configuration. If it's done
right, a complete moron could safely install a pre-built payload of
any description on top of pre-installed coreboot, without worrying
about bricking their hardware (or stuffing up their warranty).

There's only 2 things coreboot is missing. The first is an inbuilt
"update payload from <device>" utility to make installing (and
reinstalling) a payload after coreboot is installed incredibly simple
(e.g. something that can easily be used by end-users who have never
seen a compiler in their life and never will).

The second thing that's missing is a "payload specification" (with
backward compatability) that allows payloads to be written by anyone
that always work reliably without any compatability problems. Without
this, coreboot is too volatile for any sane third party to rely on.


Cheers,

Brendan