LinuxBIOS - getting closer

Technocrat

LinuxBIOS - getting closer

zogger

Thu Dec 07 19:12:50 -0800 2006

Open+Standards.

manage

Possibly coming soon to a MOBO near you, LinuxBIOS. One of the benefits touted by the devs is that it is a way to retain control over your computer in this day of "trusted computing".

" After seven years of work, the LinuxBIOS project is on the brink of making a free BIOS a standard option for computers. Serious obstacles remain, including a lack of resources and resistance from some proprietary chipset manufacturers and OEMs, but the advantages of LinuxBIOS indicate that its availability to the average computer buyer may be only months away."...more there

Is this java script all over again?

Michael Smith

Thu Dec 07 19:32:06 -0800 2006
manage

...because Java Script has nothing to do with Java and LinuxBios has nothing to do with Linux. I think Linus should tell them to find a different name.

Is this java script all over again?

imroy

Thu Dec 07 20:57:31 -0800 2006
manage

LinuxBIOS IS based on the Linux kernel. The idea was to add hardware initialisation code to the Linux kernel. Once that is loaded, I guess you can continue booting like a normal system (useful for embedded work or clusters), or load up other operating systems. Because you have a Linux kernel and all the drivers at your disposal, you have many more options than the simple BIOS. Want to load a boot image from an NFS export? Tape? Some weird filesystem? Over Myrinet or some other network? As long as the Linux kernel supports it, you're good.

Please try reading up on something before spouting off about it. This isn't Slashdot.

Is this java script all over again?

maethorechannen

Fri Dec 08 03:23:40 -0800 2006
manage

While I think that was the original goal (and the FAQ entry still gives that impression), according to the documentation LinuxBIOS is now just the minimum necessary code to initialize a motherboard and peripherals to get it to point where it can boot a payload, one of which is a Linux kernel (others payloads include OpenBIOS and etherboot). IIRC, the main problem with using Linux as your BIOS is finding a motherboard with a large enough BIOS EPROM.

So LinuxBIOS isn't Linux, and it's not really much of a BIOS either. Still I don't see much of a need to change the name, as it is the project to go to if you want to use Linux as your BIOS - if you have the hardware to support it.

Not much of a BIOS

phred14

Fri Dec 08 08:52:53 -0800 2006
manage

Basic I/O Subsystem - Every now and then it's a good idea to revist the original definition of the acronym, because every now and then acronyms get stretched well beyond what the letters stand for.

It seems to me that BIOS used to be a small collection of primitive device drivers plus a bootloader. The first forks from this came with extended function adapter cards, starting with EGA/VGA and maybe SCSI, that extended BIOS with their own functions, because this was needed at boot time for disk and console access. DOS had device drivers to add non-boot-required function.

Windows began adding protected-mode drivers to supplement what DOS could do, and as time went on, eventually replaced all BIOS functionality, once up and running. OS/2 only used BIOS as a bootloader, though it included the capability to "kick-down" into BIOS to get some function in the most reliable way, notably video mode switching. Early Linux used BIOS as a bootloader.

Then power management came along, and BIOS started getting more sophsticated with APM, ACPI, etc. Somewhere in there, BIOS makers started adding splash screens, voice reporting during startup, and other "value-add" bloat.

So it seems to me that LinuxBIOS is a return to the past.