Systemd-boot
systemd-boot is a free and open-source boot manager, previously known as gummiboot.
| systemd-boot | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developers | Kay Sievers, Harald Hoyer, Karel Zak |
| Initial release | June 28, 2012 |
| Written in | C |
| Type | Boot loader for UEFI systems |
| License | LGPL-2.1-or-later |
| Website | systemd.io/BOOT/ |
| Repository | github.com/systemd/systemd/tree/main/src/boot |
systemd-boot is a free and open-source boot manager, previously known as gummiboot.
gummiboot
[edit]gummiboot was developed by the Red Hat employees Kay Sievers and Harald Hoyer and designed as a minimal alternative to GNU GRUB for systems using the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI). The boot loader automatically detected bootable images (including operating systems and other boot loaders), did not require a configuration file, provided a basic menu-based interface, and could also integrate with systemd to provide performance data.[1]
As a word play, the name "gummiboot" means "rubber (inflatable) boat" in German, the native language of its initial developers.[2][3] Despite being developed by two of its employees, Red Hat's Fedora Project did not use gummiboot for booting UEFI systems; instead, it used efilinux to chainload GRUB.[2][4]
gummiboot was licensed under LGPL-2.1-or-later, unlike GRUB which is licensed under the GPL-3.0-or-later. This distinction was intended to allow gummiboot to be suitable for use on UEFI systems implementing secure boot,[2] 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.[4]
In May 2015, gummiboot was merged into systemd and renamed to "systemd-boot".[5][6][7][8]
See also
[edit]
References
[edit]- ^ "Boot Loader Interface".
- ^ a b c "Gummiboot is an EFI boot loader that "just works"". The H. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ^ "Lennart Poettering - Google+". plus.google.com. 2012-06-28. Archived from the original on 2015-02-22. Retrieved 2025-08-10.
- ^ a b "Ubuntu details its UEFI secure boot plans". Linux Weekly News. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
- ^ Rod Smith (2013-04-27). "Managing EFI Boot Loaders for Linux: Using gummiboot".
- ^ Michael Larabel (2015-05-21). "Systemd 220 Has Finally Been Released". Phoronix. Retrieved 2015-08-17.
- ^ Lennart Poettering (2015-05-21). "[systemd-devel] [ANNOUNCE] systemd v220". lists.freedesktop.org. Retrieved 2021-09-27.
- ^ Michael Larabel (2015-07-07). "Gummiboot is Dead". Phoronix. Retrieved 2015-08-17.