{"slug": "libreboot", "name": "Libreboot", "category": "other", "category_name": "Other software", "description": "", "recommenders": 3, "commenters": 7, "warners": 2, "score": 1.339, "rising": 0.35, "first": "2026-02-24", "latest": "2026-10-15", "why": "As the laptop runs Libreboot, it makes that laptop a 100% free/open machine", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 3, "neutral": 1, "compare": 1, "warn": 2}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "As the laptop runs Libreboot, it makes that laptop a 100% free/open machine", "kind": "", "icon": true, "domain": "libreboot.org", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://libreboot.org/", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Libreboot"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 801665169, "item_id": 50104073, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50104073", "by": "cwiggs", "date": "2026-10-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Wow, this is awesome!", "excerpt": "Wow, this is awesome! This relates to work I've been doing with the [Heads](https://osresearch.net/) project. Specifically I got a PR merged for the first ChromeOS Port using MrChromebox's code as an upstream dependency: https://github.com/linuxboot/heads/pull/2133 I'm now working on the 2nd ChromeOS device in this PR right now: https://github.com/linuxboot/heads/pull/2225 And there is a 3rd port by someone else: htt", "context": "", "use_case": "open firmware", "switched_from": "", "story": "Libreboot 26.10 \"Ominous Olive\" released with UEFI, Chromebook support"}, {"id": 782634689, "item_id": 48914668, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48914668", "by": "ColdStream", "date": "2026-07-14", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "As the laptop runs Libreboot, it makes that laptop a 100% free/open machine", "excerpt": "Trisquel Linux. As the laptop runs Libreboot, it makes that laptop a 100% free/open machine (outside of microcode/ROM firmwares). As that distro is built to be 100% free/libre software it sort of unofficially targets the T400 as the upper limit of the hardware. As such it is all kept fairly lean. Yes, other than my phone, I did go 'The Full Stallman'.", "context": "uses a 17-year-old laptop, 'The Full Stallman'", "use_case": "free firmware on laptop", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: How long do you use your personal laptop before replacing it?"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 801724289, "item_id": 50107768, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50107768", "by": "orbital-decay", "date": "2026-10-15", "stance": "warn", "quote": "libreboot's stuff reads like a parody or a shitpost", "excerpt": "RMS is extremely radical but he's also reasonable and consistent unlike these guys. There's also GNU Guix which recently banned AI-assisted contributions [1] due to copyright infringement concerns and licensing doubts. This is an entirely reasonable take for a hardcore free software codebase, it's literally built around this political concept. On the contrast, libreboot's stuff reads like a parody or a shitpost. It's", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Libreboot 26.10 \"Ominous Olive\" released with UEFI, Chromebook support"}, {"id": 779251216, "item_id": 48703201, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48703201", "by": "jjmarr", "date": "2026-06-27", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Libreboot actually isn't free anymore by FSF standards", "excerpt": "Technoethical sells a refurbished T400 with GNU Boot. https://tehnoetic.com/laptops/tet-t400s Libreboot actually isn't free anymore by FSF standards because it has binary blobs for the Intel Management Engine. Neither is Coreboot which has blobs for many other things. Most modern computers cannot boot without binary blobs for ME, which is why GNU Boot was created. If you want a modern/new computer, Purism sells them ", "context": "", "use_case": "Laptop firmware replacement", "switched_from": "", "story": "Previewing GPT\u20115.6 Sol: a next-generation model"}]}], "who": [{"by": "ColdStream", "context": "uses a 17-year-old laptop, 'The Full Stallman'", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48914668", "date": "2026-07-14"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["open firmware", "free firmware on laptop", "laptop firmware replacement", "laptop firmware"], "compared": [{"slug": "coreboot", "name": "coreboot", "co": 3, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "heads", "name": "Heads", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50102923", "title": "Libreboot 26.10 \"Ominous Olive\" released with UEFI, Chromebook support", "mentions": 3}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48689028", "title": "Previewing GPT\u20115.6 Sol: a next-generation model", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48888025", "title": "Ask HN: How long do you use your personal laptop before replacing it?", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47130860", "title": "I Ported Coreboot to the ThinkPad X270", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {"neutral": 1, "warn": 1}, "2026-07": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {"recommend": 1, "compare": 1, "warn": 1}}, "quotes": [{"id": 801724289, "item_id": 50107768, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50107768", "by": "orbital-decay", "date": "2026-10-15", "stance": "warn", "quote": "libreboot's stuff reads like a parody or a shitpost", "excerpt": "RMS is extremely radical but he's also reasonable and consistent unlike these guys. There's also GNU Guix which recently banned AI-assisted contributions [1] due to copyright infringement concerns and licensing doubts. This is an entirely reasonable take for a hardcore free software codebase, it's literally built around this political concept. On the contrast, libreboot's stuff reads like a parody or a shitpost. It's", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Libreboot 26.10 \"Ominous Olive\" released with UEFI, Chromebook support"}, {"id": 801666656, "item_id": 50104166, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50104166", "by": "versooth", "date": "2026-10-15", "stance": "compare", "quote": "Libreboot is not a fork of Coreboot.", "excerpt": "Libreboot is not a fork of Coreboot. It's a distribution. That is, they build and distribute firmware images. Coreboot just ships source. Coreboot's docs lists the variety of distributions: https://doc.coreboot.org/distributions.html", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Libreboot 26.10 \"Ominous Olive\" released with UEFI, Chromebook support"}, {"id": 801665169, "item_id": 50104073, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50104073", "by": "cwiggs", "date": "2026-10-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Wow, this is awesome!", "excerpt": "Wow, this is awesome! This relates to work I've been doing with the [Heads](https://osresearch.net/) project. Specifically I got a PR merged for the first ChromeOS Port using MrChromebox's code as an upstream dependency: https://github.com/linuxboot/heads/pull/2133 I'm now working on the 2nd ChromeOS device in this PR right now: https://github.com/linuxboot/heads/pull/2225 And there is a 3rd port by someone else: htt", "context": "", "use_case": "open firmware", "switched_from": "", "story": "Libreboot 26.10 \"Ominous Olive\" released with UEFI, Chromebook support"}, {"id": 782634689, "item_id": 48914668, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48914668", "by": "ColdStream", "date": "2026-07-14", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "As the laptop runs Libreboot, it makes that laptop a 100% free/open machine", "excerpt": "Trisquel Linux. As the laptop runs Libreboot, it makes that laptop a 100% free/open machine (outside of microcode/ROM firmwares). As that distro is built to be 100% free/libre software it sort of unofficially targets the T400 as the upper limit of the hardware. As such it is all kept fairly lean. Yes, other than my phone, I did go 'The Full Stallman'.", "context": "uses a 17-year-old laptop, 'The Full Stallman'", "use_case": "free firmware on laptop", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: How long do you use your personal laptop before replacing it?"}, {"id": 779251216, "item_id": 48703201, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48703201", "by": "jjmarr", "date": "2026-06-27", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Libreboot actually isn't free anymore by FSF standards", "excerpt": "Technoethical sells a refurbished T400 with GNU Boot. https://tehnoetic.com/laptops/tet-t400s Libreboot actually isn't free anymore by FSF standards because it has binary blobs for the Intel Management Engine. Neither is Coreboot which has blobs for many other things. Most modern computers cannot boot without binary blobs for ME, which is why GNU Boot was created. If you want a modern/new computer, Purism sells them ", "context": "", "use_case": "Laptop firmware replacement", "switched_from": "", "story": "Previewing GPT\u20115.6 Sol: a next-generation model"}, {"id": 779159424, "item_id": 48697464, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48697464", "by": "akoboldfrying", "date": "2026-06-27", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "The latest libreboot-compatible laptop I could find", "excerpt": "> They are also the reason you can buy a computer meeting those requirements The latest libreboot-compatible laptop I could find, at https://libreboot.org/docs/install/t480.html, is from 2018 -- not sure if that would still be available?", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Previewing GPT\u20115.6 Sol: a next-generation model"}, {"id": 754158257, "item_id": 47134891, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47134891", "by": "alias_neo", "date": "2026-02-24", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "", "excerpt": "It replaces a proprietary component of your system with an open source one. Reading https://libreboot.org/#why-use-libreboot might provide further enlightenment.", "context": "", "use_case": "Laptop firmware", "switched_from": "", "story": "I Ported Coreboot to the ThinkPad X270"}]}