Re: [Long] UEFI support
On Fri, Jan 06, 2012 at 02:41:41PM +0000, Tanguy Ortolo wrote:
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> Hello all,
>
> UEFI (often called EFI, which was the name of its previous version) is a
> new firmware interface, which is expected to replace the BIOS on new
> PCs, as at has already done so on Apple PCs. While modern operating
> system do not rely much on firmware calls for normal operation, the boot
> loader does.
As I understand it, almost all new PCs for sale today have UEFI and a
BIOS compatibility layer on top. So this replacement has already
happened.
[...]
> In order not to see Debian become uninstallable (meaning, not
> installable unless you are a guru) on most computers, I wonder if UEFI
> support should not even be promoted as a release goal. But anyway, here
> is a basic summary of how it works from a boot procedure point of view,
> and what it means to support it.
[...]
If Debian doesn't yet fully support installation and booting on UEFI
(I haven't bought a new PC in a while so I haven't tried it) then it
should be a very high priority for the maintainers of whichever
packages are involved (installer, boot loaders, kernels). But release
goals are usually defined for issues that involve a large number of
packages, which is not the case for UEFI support.
Ben.
--
Ben Hutchings
We get into the habit of living before acquiring the habit of thinking.
- Albert Camus
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