Libreboot, the free software firmware project based on Coreboot, is now officially part of Software in the Public Interest (SPI). For those unfamiliar, it provides open-source boot firmware as a replacement for proprietary BIOS and UEFI on certain Intel, AMD, and ARM-based hardware.
It initializes components like the CPU, memory controller, and peripherals before passing control to the bootloader. Both Linux and BSD operating systems are well supported.
Leah Rowe, Librebooth project’s founder and lead developer, explained that SPI’s backing will help cover key project needs—donations, infrastructure, and legal support.
Up until now, this software has relied mostly on personal funding and informal contributions. With SPI membership, the project will be able to accept donations through an official channel, pay for hosting and domain renewals, and even get legal assistance if needed. She noted:
“Where I once funded Libreboot entirely by my own means, SPI will now provide an official, organized way to do so.”
The move comes after Rowe reached out to SPI earlier this year, around the time of FOSDEM 2025. On July 14, 2025, SPI’s board unanimously voted to accept Libreboot as a member project during its IRC meeting. The resolution and full meeting log are publicly available on SPI’s website.
Finally, I would like to note that SPI is a long-standing nonprofit organization that provides fiscal sponsorship and administrative support for free software projects. It currently sponsors major names in the ecosystem, including Debian, Arch Linux, FFmpeg, LibreOffice, OpenSSL, and OpenZFS. Libreboot now joins that list.
For more information, see Libreboot’s announcement.
Not sure about the difference between this and Coreboot (were some blobs?) but from the practicality it is possible to find laptops with actual hardware and Coreboot (System76, NovaCustom,..?) while list of supported hardware of Libreboot looks very outdated…