[coreboot] Potential development funding.

[mailinglists]

Hi everyone,

My name is Nick Bowes and I'm looking to create a small (got to start 
somewhere) Foss-only computer build and supply business.  To make that viable, 
I need a free bios implementation for one or two new mobos, and coreboot seems 
to hold the most promise.  I'm interested in doing this in the hope that I can 
help the foss community get away from the emerging and likely pervasive UEFI 
stupidness thats coming. As you probably know better then I do, creating 
alternatives to the things that cause us all problems is the only way to 
truely solve them.

Having heard recently that Google released coreboot updates for both Sandy 
Bridge and Ivy Bridge chipsets, I thought now would be a good time to ask this 
mailing list a few questions about the viability of funding some development.

As a future small distributor of foss-only computers and likely a one man band 
to start with, I would need to keep things very simple.  That means creating a 
product line (if you can call it that) of perhaps only 3-5 different 
desktops/laptops in total.  Idealy I'd like to offer a range of 3 itx desktops, 
Ivy Bridge i3 i5 i7, or, Trinity A6 A8 A10, and one or two laptops, one 
budget, one highend.  

So, if you don't mind, and this is the right place(if it isn't, please point 
me in the right direction) I'd like to ask you all...

1.      What do you all think the requirements will be for replacing UEFI on 
future mobos.  Will it likely be a case of switching out the bios chip or just 
flashing it?

2.      What % of flashes resulted in bricked mobos? Do most new boards come 
with a backup chip which can restore life after a failure?  

3.      Can anyone reccomend a possible target ivy bridge or Trinity itx mobo 
for coreboot development?  Perhaps one that's already being worked on?

4.      If we can identify a good itx mobo for the desktop line-up,  would 
someone here be able to asses how much time a fairly full featured and 
reliable implementation of coreboot would take to develop?

        note: to me "fairly full featured would be to have all the 
fundamentals  up and avaliable for the OS to pick up, such as pci-e usb 3.0, 
hdmi, sata 3, wifi, and working reliably.

5.      Is there any special requirement for getting amd/nvidia gfx cards 
working with coreboot?

6.      Which hardware have you found to be the simplist to fully implement 
coreboot on, and which hardware (if any) should be considered a no go?  

7.      What type of computer would most on this list be interested to develop 
coreboot for.  As in, if you were going to buy a desktop or laptop today, or 
in the near future, what combination of hardware would you go for?

8.	What do you think about the viability of a kickstarter campaign to raise 
development funds.  Has anyone tried this yet?


I would truely love to distribute computers which run entirely on free 
software. Unfortunately, I'm no developer so If funding some development is 
the only way I can achieve this, I will find a way to do it.

I look forward to any insights you provide.

Thanks
Nick