Re: [H-source-users] h-node and UEFI Secure Boot, how should we move?

[Michał Masłowski]

> "Does UEFI (Restricted Boot) prevent the installation of a free
> operating system?"

There are many other standards/bootloaders that can do the same, "can
free operating systems be installed" expresses the same.  Unless someone
wants to boycott just UEFI Restricted Boot and not Restricted Boot using
a different bootloader.

> Should UEFI replace BIOS? If this is the case we should add an option
> to the BIOS entry:
>
> does it have a free BIOS?                             yes
>                                                       no
>                                                       not-specified
>                                                         it uses UEFI

There are both free and nonfree implementations of UEFI, so this
shouldn't be in this entry.

BIOS, UEFI, boot firmware and other names refer to what is exactly the
same thing for our purposes.  Maybe call it "boot firmware" and explain
that BIOS and UEFI implementations are boot firmware?  (Might be
confused with firmware running on other processors.)

Seen a longer list of primary boot loaders in
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Booting.

There is an unrelated issue of "can free operating systems be installed"
not being clear.  I consider it to refer to installation of systems
modified by the user without asking anyone (so they would e.g. need to
disable Secure Boot first or add their own keys), although this isn't an
issue if a free operating system is one of the FSF-listed free distros
with no plans to have signed kernels in their installation media.  There
are devices that allow installation of custom kernels but not
bootloaders (e.g. Nexus S and probably many other phones, although we
don't list them on h-node), we could add a "partial" value with a
request for details in the description if such cases occur.

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