[HN Gopher] Architecture 4031: Introductory Coreboot
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       Architecture 4031: Introductory Coreboot
        
       Author : transpute
       Score  : 36 points
       Date   : 2023-05-28 14:11 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (p.ost2.fyi)
 (TXT) w3m dump (p.ost2.fyi)
        
       | burglins wrote:
       | Really cool topics, but wish there was a text version of those
       | courses.
       | 
       | Edit: aside from the fact, that reading is much more effective
       | for learning, hearing their Polish accent is pure agony (I'm
       | Polish)
        
         | pietrushnic wrote:
         | Thanks for the feedback about the accent. I understand that it
         | can add an unnecessary layer of complexity to content
         | consumption. I will pay special attention to improving it in
         | upcoming classes, but there are some limits to what I can do.
         | In the future, with community and commercial support, we can
         | afford professional domain experts who speak with a good
         | accent.
         | 
         | At this point, we are instead trying to fill the vacuum by
         | providing something, maybe not the most enjoyable, but a basic
         | introduction to the topic to buy some time for domain experts
         | instead of answering basic questions.
        
         | [deleted]
        
         | transpute wrote:
         | This course video has text subtitles.
         | 
         | Text materials are here:
         | https://gitlab.com/opensecuritytraining
        
       | pietrushnic wrote:
       | I'm pleased that the course I recorded (with massive support from
       | 3mdeb colleagues) and contributed to, OpenSecurityTraining2, made
       | its way here. It is an excellent opportunity to introduce myself
       | and engage with you. I'm Piotr Krol, Founder of 3mdeb, a Poland-
       | based open-source firmware vendor, and IBV, the instructor of the
       | OpenSecurityTrainign2 in question. I have developed BIOS and
       | open-source firmware development for 15 years (the last years
       | focusing more on the education and business side of those
       | topics).
       | 
       | This course aims to make the foundational aspects of coreboot
       | more accessible to anyone interested in learning about open-
       | source firmware development. In future classes, we'll dive deep
       | into the nuts and bolts of coreboot, from its architecture to
       | hands-on implementation on hardware. I'd love to invite everyone
       | reading this to check out the course, and whether you're an
       | experienced firmware developer, an open-source enthusiast, or a
       | newcomer curious about coreboot, your perspectives, and questions
       | are all welcome.
       | 
       | Please feel free to ask me anything - about the course, coreboot,
       | my experience in this field, or anything else you'd like to know.
       | I am looking forward to a vibrant discussion!
        
       | lloydatkinson wrote:
       | 4031 what?
        
         | cryptonector wrote:
         | In American universities courses are typically numbered with
         | four digits where the first corresponds to the year of a
         | student's career, so freshman (1st year) courses are 1xxx,
         | sophomore courses are 2xxx, and so on. The higher that first
         | digit, the more advanced the course. (Since most bachelors
         | degree careers are four years, courses that start with a 5 are
         | graduate courses.)
         | 
         | With that context `Architecture 4031: Introductory Coreboot` is
         | either a bonafide college course title or it's an attempt to
         | sound like one.
        
           | dragontamer wrote:
           | My USA college had 3 digit codes.
           | 
           | Introduction to computer science was 101. And most people I
           | know of title '101' as the introduction idea.
           | 
           | Second year students take 201, 231, etc. Etc.
           | 
           | Third year was 3xx.
           | 
           | Fourth year was weird, because you take a few graduate
           | classes. Everything from 4xx standard 4th year stuff, to 6xx
           | or 7xx graduate level stuff was available.
           | 
           | -------
           | 
           | I'm pretty sure 6xx or 7xx was more about when the professors
           | felt like teaching btw. A 6xx class was offered every year.
           | 7xx may only be offered once (ever), or maybe every few years
           | at best.
        
         | transpute wrote:
         | _> coreboot is one of the leading extended firmware frameworks,
         | which recently gain popularity thanks to being default boot
         | firmware for Google Chromebooks. It is promoted by Open Compute
         | Project Open System Firmware Committee and recognized by Qubes
         | OS Team as viable option for Hardware Certification._
         | 
         | Full list of security classes, https://p.ost2.fyi/
         | Architecture 1001: x86-64 Assembly         Architecture 2001:
         | x86-64 OS Internals       Architecture 4001: x86-64 Intel
         | Firmware Attack & Defense       Architecture 4021: Introductory
         | UEFI         Architecture 4031: Introductory coreboot
         | 
         | These courses on low-level systems architecture, security,
         | firmware, reversing & vulnerabilities were supervised by Xeno
         | Kovah, "OST2: A new way to grow security talent for open source
         | projects", https://archive.fosdem.org/2022/schedule/event/ost2/
         | 
         |  _> .. working for Apple.. on securing all the lesser-known
         | firmwares on Macs and peripherals - everything from 3rd party
         | GPUs to SecureBoot for monitors! He worked on the x86-side of
         | the T2 SecureBoot architecture, and his final project was
         | leading the M1 SecureBoot architecture - being directly
         | responsible for designing a system that could provide iOS-level
         | security, while still allowing customer choice to trust
         | arbitrary non-Apple code such as Linux bootloaders. He left
         | Apple in Dec 2020 after the M1 Macs shipped, so he could work
         | full time on Open Security Training._
        
         | pietrushnic wrote:
         | IUUC Xeno's goal was to create a taxonomy for security topics.
         | If you will take a look here:
         | https://ost2.fyi/System%20Security.html You can find a bigger
         | plan showing the relation between various numbers of courses.
         | Of course, we can only create minimal courses (compared to
         | those taught in universities) about coreboot or UEFI, but in
         | the long run, we should put together one of the most
         | comprehensive firmware training with open and free access for
         | everyone. You can read more about that motivation on other
         | pages of https://ost2.fyi. Security is a broad topic covering
         | various aspects. Please let us know if you have ideas about
         | improving the used taxonomy since it takes enormous effort to
         | put all security topics on the chart and build a map for
         | students that will provide a seamless learning experience.
        
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       (page generated 2023-05-29 23:02 UTC)