OpenBSD boots multi-user on Apple M1 hardware

Re:OpenBSD boots multi-user on Apple M1 hardware by mrweasel on Sunday February 21, 2021 @06:03AM (#26212529)

What would Apple even have to lose by proving the specification and documentation needed to boot alternative operating systems? People would still need to by the hardware from Apple and the number of people who even consider this option is so small that the PR it would bring easily outweight any potential cost. How many bought the Intel Macs initially because: If it doesn’t workout, I just install Windows.

Linux users would buy M1, with the intention of running Linux, and if it doesn’t work, they can still run macOS.

I don’t see the risk to Apple, if they at least provided documentation for the M1.

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Re:OpenBSD boots multi-user on Apple M1 hardware by coldtea on Sunday February 21, 2021 @09:59AM (#26213890)

>What would Apple even have to lose by proving the specification and documentation needed to boot alternative operating systems?

They already describe how to do so, and the specification to merely boot is trivial anyway. Linux, OpenBSD (as in TFA), and others have booted already.

It's the details of the GPU and other such stuff that needs drivers (touchpad, etc) that are missing. And those are rarely well documented on the Intel side, by AMD and NVIDIA either, anyway.

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Re:OpenBSD boots multi-user on Apple M1 hardware by adamcstephens on Monday February 22, 2021 @01:38PM (#26228455)

It's not about risk, it's about philosophy. They want to control the entire stack, and it's been in their DNA for decades. Most internal documentation also generally isn't public-level quality, so it's a non-zero amount of effort to release docs.

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