• dRLY [none/use name]
    ·
    3 months ago

    Will we ever get the ability to boot live media or OS installers on Arm and/or RISC-V boards/PCs? I really like being able to boot a repair or live OS from thumb drives and install from them. One of the big frustrations I have with my Pi boards is having to flash the OS to even just try one out. Stuff like Tails, Hiren's, and Rescuezilla are nice to have on x86, but Arm/RISC don't have that option. Which sucks since Apple has really shown that options other than x86 can do some heavy workloads.

    • blobjim [he/him]
      ·
      edit-2
      3 months ago

      You're just talking about most SoCs. The UEFI spec already supports ARM and RISC-V and I think there's already at least one RISC-V SoC that supports UEFI. If there are ever RISC-V laptops/desktops, I think it's likely that they'll support UEFI.

      Here's some random thing I found on Google: https://forum.rvspace.org/t/unlocking-new-possibilities-starfive-visionfive-2-sbc-now-supports-tianocore-edk-ii-uefi/2779/3

      • dRLY [none/use name]
        ·
        3 months ago

        That is at least good to see. I am just concerned that if a lot of companies just stay used to not having a user accessible UEFI/BIOS, it will be nothing but like we see on Android devices. They have a recovery that can be booted, but setup to lock out easily changing OS after the OEM ends support after a couple of years. And it doesn't help that all the major apps are coded to break if you have the gaul to extend the life of your device. Or for wanting to be able to fully access said device to remove or add what you want. Does it mean that ARM/RISC laptops or desktops are going to be treated the same? No, and I hope not. I just really hate how much we are starting to see how much Microsoft, Apple, and Google are going out of their way to hide shit on current releases. So OEMs and the big desktop OS makers locking us out seems very possible to me. Sorry for this rant.