gummiboot (software)

gummiboot
Developer(s) Kay Sievers, Harald Hoyer, Karel Zak
Last release 48 / January 30, 2015 (2015-01-30)[1]
Development status Discontinued
Written in C
Type UEFI boot loader
License GNU LGPL
Website www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/systemd/systemd-boot/

gummiboot is an open-source boot loader for systems using the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI). In May 2015, gummiboot was fully integrated into systemd to form its systemd-boot component that serves as a UEFI boot manager.[2][3] Following this action, the source code repository of gummiboot was emptied out in July 2015.[4]

Developed by the Red Hat employees Kay Sievers and Harald Hoyer, gummiboot is intended to be a minimal alternative to GNU GRUB that "just works": it automatically detects bootable images (including Linux kernel images, operating systems, and other boot loaders), does not require a configuration file, provides a basic menu-based interface, and can also integrate with systemd to provide performance data. As a word play, the name "gummiboot" means "inflatable boat" in German, the native language of its initial developers.[5] Despite being developed by two of its employees, Red Hat's Fedora Project does not use gummiboot for booting UEFI systems; instead, it will use efilinux to chainload GRUB.[5][6]

gummiboot is licensed under version 2.1 of the GNU Lesser General Public License, unlike GRUB which is licensed under the GNU General Public License version 3 (GPL v3). This distinction is intended to allow gummiboot to be suitable for use on UEFI systems implementing "secure boot",[5] due to concerns surrounding its requirement to distribute all authorization keys (digital certificates) needed to run GPL-v3-licensed software if hardware restrictions such as secure boot are in effect.[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "gummiboot - Simple EFI boot loader". freedesktop.org.
  2. ↑ Michael Larabel (2015-05-21). "Systemd 220 Has Finally Been Released". Phoronix. Retrieved 2015-08-17.
  3. ↑ Lennart Poettering (2015-05-21). "[systemd-devel] [ANNOUNCE] systemd v220". lists.freedesktop.org. Retrieved 2015-08-17.
  4. ↑ Michael Larabel (2015-07-07). "Gummiboot is Dead". Phoronix. Retrieved 2015-08-17.
  5. 1 2 3 "Gummiboot is an EFI boot loader that "just works"". The H. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  6. 1 2 "Ubuntu details its UEFI secure boot plans". Linux Weekly News. Retrieved 11 September 2012.

External links


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