The coreboot project has always thrived on community contributions and collaboration. As the open-source firmware ecosystem continues to grow, we’re introducing several new initiatives to make it easier for companies, organizations, and individuals to engage with our project. Whether you’re a seasoned firmware developer or new to the coreboot community, we want to lower the barriers to participation and create more flexible pathways for contribution.
New Collaboration Models
We are offering these to facilitate work on coreboot done by various groups. There are obviously rules and expectations between the parties associated with these hosting options which will be fully documented as we work more closely with groups to implement these.
Private Development Repositories
We understand that not every organization is ready to develop in the open from day one. To accommodate this reality while still encouraging eventual open-source contributions, we’re now offering private git repositories hosted by the coreboot project. These repositories provide a space for companies or groups to develop coreboot implementations before they’re ready for public release.
A few important notes about this offering:
- These repositories are intended to be relatively short-lived, with the expectation that work will eventually be merged back into the main coreboot repository.
- While we’ll do our best to maintain privacy, contributors are ultimately responsible for any data posted to these repositories. We cannot provide absolute guarantees of privacy.
- This approach allows organizations to become familiar with coreboot’s codebase and development practices in a controlled environment.
These can be useful when different groups are collaborating on a project, making it difficult to host the project somewhere that one group or another can’t access.
Public Development Branches
For organizations ready to work in the open but wanting more flexibility, we’re introducing the ability for companies to create public branches in the main coreboot git repository. These branches offer several advantages:
- Like working in the private repos, this helps with familiarity with coreboot’s processes while allowing for faster development cycles
- Flexibility in workflow: branches can either use or bypass gerrit code review
- Optional Jenkins test integration
- No binary files allowed, maintaining our source-only approach
- As with private repositories, the end goal is integration with the main coreboot branch
This option provides an excellent middle ground between fully independent development and direct contribution to the master branch, allowing organizations to work at their own pace while still being part of the public coreboot ecosystem.
Enhanced Community Engagement
Beyond code repositories, we’re implementing several initiatives to strengthen relationships between the coreboot project and various stakeholders:
Direct Communication Channels
We’re offering to set up one-time or ongoing public meetings with companies, groups, or individuals interested in coreboot development. These meetings can serve multiple purposes:
- Technical discussion of specific implementations
- Strategic planning for collaborative projects
- Community outreach and education
- Addressing specific challenges or obstacles
Leadership Representation
To ensure that industry perspectives are well-represented in project governance, we’re adding “Official” company representatives to the coreboot leadership meetings. This gives organizations a direct voice in project direction while maintaining our community-driven approach.
Collaborative Content Development on the coreboot Blog
We’re eager to work with companies and individuals to create blog posts about upcoming projects and initiatives. This helps communicate plans to the wider community, generates anticipation for new features, and provides visibility for contributors.
Looking Ahead: How Can We Help You?
These initiatives represent our current efforts to make coreboot more accessible and collaborative, but we recognize that there may be other ways we can support the community. We want to hear from you: What else can the coreboot project do to help you engage with our community and contribute to open-source firmware development?
Whether you’re a large hardware manufacturer, a small group of enthusiasts, or an individual developer, we’re committed to finding ways to support your involvement with coreboot. Reach out to us with your ideas, challenges, and suggestions.
Getting Started
If you’re interested in any of these collaboration options, please contact the coreboot project leadership team or post to the coreboot mailing list. We’ll work with you to determine the best approach for your specific needs and objectives. See the coreboot website for contact details.
The future of open-source firmware depends on active participation from diverse contributors. With these new engagement pathways, we hope to welcome even more participants into the coreboot ecosystem, ultimately advancing our shared goal of free, open, and secure firmware for everyone.