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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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The idea is that if a machine defaults to "legacy boot," meaning a BIOS-style boot, then use that to load U-Boot, which then provides a software emulation of UEFI so that the startup process can be simplified by the removal of BIOS support.
Sounds more like the illusion of simplicity
Sounds like more complexity for the legacy use case in return for less complexity in the expected use case. Probably a fair trade-off.
I think they’re trying to simplify the exposed interfaces simplifying everyone else’s job at the expense of making a more complex implementation.
It's 2023. By this time I'm fine if BIOS boot was removed completely.
It would hurt some projects.
Just as an example, A small project Qubes OS supports UEFI, but a lot of the UEFI implementations from different manufactures are broken or don't follow the standards. Qubes OS doesn't have the developer resources to fix issues with motherboards or laptops only used by a handful of users, so when all else fails the solution is to use legacy mode.
Coreboot also uses legacy boot for some payloads.
Qubes OS
Not really related to what Red Hat is doing with their OS.
Why not?
Qubes OS use Fedora for dom0.
Why not?
"many public cloud vendors also default to BIOS booting of their VM instances"
So it's about cloud VMs.
It’s 2023. By this time I’m fine if BIOS boot was removed completely
I was replying to that post.
But I guess read the thread before posting was too much to ask.
Are there any machines in use anymore that don't support UEFI? When did it become standard? Something like 2012?
At my company, we have around 400,000 servers in production. When we last surveyed them, we found several thousand over 12 years old, with the oldest at 17 years. And that wasn’t counting our lab and admin servers which could run even older because they’re often repurposed from prod decomms.
We had a huge internal effort to virtualize their loads, but in the end, only about 15% were transferred just due to the sheer number of hidden edge cases that kept turning up.
How many of them would ever run an OS released in 2023?
All of them. Corp directive (now) is that hosts must be updated or reimaged every 90 days.
Are there any machines in use anymore that don’t support UEFI?
As the article explains, the move is about VMs but IMO it would make more sense to improve UEFI support in VM solutions than this.
I have a bunch of Intel motherboards circa 2015 that "support" UEFI as in it will boot windows but not any other payload.
If the replacement is Coreboot thats OK, but if this is UEFI no thank you !
I read it as bootlicker at first
That too
Is that like a live action Carmen Sandiego?
What if she only stole... from thieves?
Whatever happened to RedBoot?