USENIX.org: Flexibility in ROM: A Stackable Open Source BIOS

“One of the last vestiges of closed source proprietary software
in current PCs is the PC BIOS. The BIOS, most always written in
assembler, operates mostly in 16 bit mode, and provides services
that few modern 32 bit operating systems require. Recognizing this,
the LinuxBIOS founders began an effort to place a Linux kernel in
the ROM of current motherboards–completely removing the legacy
BIOS. While the LinuxBIOS effort fully supports Linux, other modern
operating systems, e.g. *BSD, and Windows 2000/XP, could not be
directly supported because of their reliance on a few services
provided by those legacy BIOSes. In this paper, we describe how we
have combined elements of the LinuxBIOS, the Bochs PC emulator, and
additional software to create the first open source firmware for
the IBM PC capable of booting most modern operating systems…”

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