Canoeboot – Free, Libre BIOS/UEFI boot firmware
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Canoeboot is a coreboot distribution (coreboot distro), in the same way that there are Linux distributions. Canoeboot provides free (libre) boot firmware based on coreboot, replacing proprietary BIOS/UEFI firmware on specific Intel/AMD x86 and ARM based motherboards, including laptop and desktop computers. It initialises the hardware (e.g. memory controller, CPU, peripherals) and starts a bootloader for your operating system (OS). Linux and BSD are well-supported. Help is available via #canoeboot on Libera IRC.
Canoeboot provides GNU boot loader “GRUB” and SeaBIOS payloads on x86/x86_64 Intel/AMD motherboards, and a U-Boot UEFI payload for coreboot on ARM64(Aarch64) motherboards. An x86/x86_64 U-Boot UEFI payload is also available on some boards. The x86, x86_64 and arm64 U-Boot payloads provide a lightweight UEFI boot implementation. Canoeboot’s design incorporates all of these payloads in a single image, and you choose one at boot time.
Canoeboot is a special fork of Libreboot, maintained in parallel to it by the same developer (Leah Rowe), who maintains both projects. Canoeboot removes all binary blobs from coreboot, thereby providing a fully Free Software coreboot distro, unlike Libreboot which has a more pragmatic Binary Blob Reduction Policy which allows Libreboot to support more hardware. Canoeboot is provided for Free Software purists, who only want Free Software, regardless of technical details. Canoeboot even removes CPU microcode updates, regardless of the negative impact this can have on system stability.
NEW RELEASE: The latest release is Canoeboot 26.01, released on 30 January 2026. See: Canoeboot 26.01 release announcement.
You can also buy Libreboot preinstalled from Minifree Ltd, on select hardware, as well as send your compatible hardware for Canoeboot preinstallation. The founder and lead developer of Canoeboot, Leah Rowe, also owns and operates Minifree; sales provide funding for Canoeboot.
We believe the freedom to study, share, modify and use software, without any restriction, is one of the fundamental human rights that everyone must have. In this context, software freedom matters. Your freedom matters. Education matters. Right to repair matters; Canoeboot lets you continue to use your hardware, with continued firmware updates. All of this is why Canoeboot exists.
Overview of Canoeboot design<br>[link]
Canoeboot provides coreboot for machine initialisation, which then jumps to a payload in the boot flash; coreboot works with many payloads, which boot your operating system e.g. Linux/BSD.
Canoeboot makes coreboot easy to use for non-technical users, by providing a fully automated build system, automated build process and user-friendly installation instructions, in addition to regular binary releases that provide pre-compiled ROM images for installation on supported hardware. Without automation such as that provided by Canoeboot, coreboot would be inaccessible for most users; you can also still reconfigure Canoeboot however you wish.
Why use Canoeboot?<br>[link]
If you’re already inclined towards free software, maybe already a coreboot user, Canoeboot makes it easier to either get started or otherwise maintain coreboot on your machine, via build automation. It provides regular tested releases, pre-assembled, often with certain patches on top of coreboot (and other code) to ensure stability. By comparison, coreboot uses a rolling-release model, with a snapshot of the codebase every few months; it is very much developer-oriented, whereas Canoeboot is specifically crafted for end users. In other words, the purpose of Canoeboot is to Just Work. Direct configuration and installation of coreboot is also possible, but Canoeboot makes it much easier.
Canoeboot gives you Free Software that you otherwise can’t get with most other boot firmware, plus faster boot speeds and better security. It’s extremely powerful and configurable for many use cases. If you’re unhappy with the restrictions (not to mention, security issues) imposed on you by proprietary BIOS vendors, then Canoeboot is one possible choice for you. Since it inherits coreboot, it doesn’t have any known backdoors in the code, nor does it contain legacy cruft from the 1980s. Canoeboot provides a sleek, fast boot experience for Linux/BSD systems, based on coreboot which is regularly audited and improved.
Canoeboot is more reliable than proprietary firmware. Many people use proprietary (non-libre) boot firmware, even if they use a libre OS. Proprietary firmware often contains backdoors, and can be buggy. The Canoeboot project was founded in October 2023, with the express purpose of making coreboot firmware accessible for non-technical users; the Libreboot project, upon which Canoeboot is based, was founded for the same reason, in December 2013.
Canoeboot is a free software project, with a focus on helping users escape...