[HN Gopher] Go-boot: bare metal Go UEFI boot manager
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       Go-boot: bare metal Go UEFI boot manager
        
       Author : nateb2022
       Score  : 52 points
       Date   : 2025-12-18 00:08 UTC (5 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (github.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (github.com)
        
       | Imustaskforhelp wrote:
       | I really like this idea but can anyone please summarize what it
       | does for me. To me it feels very fascinating (bare metal golang
       | in general) but I am not sure I truly understand its usecase and
       | I would love to know more.
        
         | pjmlp wrote:
         | The use cases is not writing unsafe C in first place, and
         | proving the point Go is usable in such scenarios, regardless of
         | naysayers.
         | 
         | The creators of USB Armory also created TamaGo, instead of
         | using Rust, exactly for the same reasons, to prove a point.
         | 
         | https://github.com/usbarmory/tamago
         | 
         | https://reversec.com/usb-armory/
         | 
         | Because in IT, seeing is believing.
        
           | qhwudbebd wrote:
           | Quite apart from that, an EFI shell that's less awful than
           | the standard UEFI one is an interesting project in its own
           | right...
        
           | bradfitz wrote:
           | I've been idly following this stuff on & off for years, but I
           | never saw proving a point "instead of using Rust" as one of
           | the motivations of the project. Was that ever stated
           | anywhere?
        
             | pjmlp wrote:
             | Yes,
             | 
             | > Languages like Rust have already proven they role in bare
             | metal world, Go on the other hand needs to ... and it
             | really can!
             | 
             | From https://fiif.fi/wp-
             | content/uploads/sites/9/2021/06/TamaGo.pd...
        
           | xyse53 wrote:
           | It's also a good way to learn about UEFI for people most
           | familiar with go.
        
         | techgnosis wrote:
         | There aren't that many UEFI shells and the ones that exist are
         | certainly not modern. Anything new is helpful, especially if
         | its written in a popular language like Go.
        
         | tomcam wrote:
         | When you turn on a computer, it transfers code to software
         | required to get the machine up and running reliably--the boot
         | process. That used start in a chip called the BIOS. It's a
         | 40-year old holdover from the early days of the IBM PC. UEFI is
         | a more complex and feature-rich protocol. Due to its default
         | memory management Go hasn't been considered the first choice
         | for such purposes but this proof of concept uses Go for the
         | very low level code needed for UEFI.
        
           | reactordev wrote:
           | "Due to its garbage collection" you mean. There's nothing
           | stopping you from writing go for bare metal, only your pride.
        
       | hulitu wrote:
       | > Go-boot: bare metal Go UEFI boot manager
       | 
       | The bare metal list is quiet thin.
       | 
       | Why is so HW focused ? I use refind and it seems to be HW
       | independent.
        
       | seanw444 wrote:
       | As much as I appreciate Go, putting it on bare metal makes me
       | cringe a little.
        
         | reactordev wrote:
         | Why? You can't just leave that dangling like a meat stick.
        
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       (page generated 2025-12-23 23:00 UTC)