README: Convert to Markdown

Markdown allows easy conversion to HTML, so this change should make the
GitHub mirror look a little better.

Change-Id: I1a9fde648b8960c01b69fc682f0908c5243d2013
Signed-off-by: Jonathan Neuschäfer <j.neuschaefer@gmx.net>
Reviewed-on: https://review.coreboot.org/28624
Tested-by: build bot (Jenkins) <no-reply@coreboot.org>
Reviewed-by: Patrick Georgi <pgeorgi@google.com>

1 files changed, 105 insertions, 0 deletions

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+coreboot README
+===============
+
+coreboot is a Free Software project aimed at replacing the proprietary BIOS
+(firmware) found in most computers.  coreboot performs a little bit of
+hardware initialization and then executes additional boot logic, called a
+payload.
+
+With the separation of hardware initialization and later boot logic,
+coreboot can scale from specialized applications that run directly
+firmware, run operating systems in flash, load custom
+bootloaders, or implement firmware standards, like PC BIOS services or
+UEFI. This allows for systems to only include the features necessary
+in the target application, reducing the amount of code and flash space
+required.
+
+coreboot was formerly known as LinuxBIOS.
+
+
+Payloads
+--------
+
+After the basic initialization of the hardware has been performed, any
+desired "payload" can be started by coreboot.
+
+See <https://www.coreboot.org/Payloads> for a list of supported payloads.
+
+
+Supported Hardware
+------------------
+
+coreboot supports a wide range of chipsets, devices, and mainboards.
+
+For details please consult:
+
+ * <https://www.coreboot.org/Supported_Motherboards>
+ * <https://www.coreboot.org/Supported_Chipsets_and_Devices>
+
+
+Build Requirements
+------------------
+
+ * make
+ * gcc / g++
+   Because Linux distribution compilers tend to use lots of patches. coreboot
+   does lots of "unusual" things in its build system, some of which break due
+   to those patches, sometimes by gcc aborting, sometimes - and that's worse -
+   by generating broken object code.
+   Two options: use our toolchain (eg. make crosstools-i386) or enable the
+   `ANY_TOOLCHAIN` Kconfig option if you're feeling lucky (no support in this
+   case).
+ * iasl (for targets with ACPI support)
+ * pkg-config
+ * libssl-dev (openssl)
+
+Optional:
+
+ * doxygen (for generating/viewing documentation)
+ * gdb (for better debugging facilities on some targets)
+ * ncurses (for `make menuconfig` and `make nconfig`)
+ * flex and bison (for regenerating parsers)
+
+
+Building coreboot
+-----------------
+
+Please consult <https://www.coreboot.org/Build_HOWTO> for details.
+
+
+Testing coreboot Without Modifying Your Hardware
+------------------------------------------------
+
+If you want to test coreboot without any risks before you really decide
+to use it on your hardware, you can use the QEMU system emulator to run
+coreboot virtually in QEMU.
+
+Please see <https://www.coreboot.org/QEMU> for details.
+
+
+Website and Mailing List
+------------------------
+
+Further details on the project, a FAQ, many HOWTOs, news, development
+guidelines and more can be found on the coreboot website:
+
+  <https://www.coreboot.org>
+
+You can contact us directly on the coreboot mailing list:
+
+  <https://www.coreboot.org/Mailinglist>
+
+
+Copyright and License
+---------------------
+
+The copyright on coreboot is owned by quite a large number of individual
+developers and companies. Please check the individual source files for details.
+
+coreboot is licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL).
+Some files are licensed under the "GPL (version 2, or any later version)",
+and some files are licensed under the "GPL, version 2". For some parts, which
+were derived from other projects, other (GPL-compatible) licenses may apply.
+Please check the individual source files for details.
+
+This makes the resulting coreboot images licensed under the GPL, version 2.