Google coreboot and ChromeOS firmware interfaces
Kernel-side glue for talking to firmware on machines that boot with Google's coreboot, including Chromebooks and Google's own server fleet. It exposes things like the coreboot table, the Google System Management Interface (GSMI) for logging and event handling, and related vendor firmware hooks shipping on hardware sold today.
recommendation
It should stay because this code supports Chromebooks and Google servers that are still sold new in 2025, and upstream maintenance is clearly current — including 2024 cleanups to gsmi.c and 2026 patches reworking the coreboot table and bus code. There is no removal signal; this is living infrastructure for a large installed base.
repository signals
sources
- lore.kernel.org
Thomas Zimmermann posted a 2026 patch in chrome-platform touching coreboot_table.c to export coreboot table entries, showing active upstream maintenance.
- lore.kernel.org
A companion 2026 patch adjusts coreboot bus initialization in this directory, indicating ongoing functional cleanup rather than abandonment.
- lore.kernel.org
gsmi.c received a 2024 subsystem-specific update on chrome-platform, confirming recent non-removal attention.
- google.com
Google's Chromebook Plus page listed multiple Chromebook models for sale in 2025, supporting that ChromeOS/coreboot-class hardware is still sold new.
- git.kernel.org
Kconfig describes these as firmware drivers for Google servers, Chromebooks, and other devices using coreboot firmware.
codex reasoning notes (technical)
Local shell inspection of Kconfig showed this directory covers Google servers, Chromebooks, and coreboot devices rather than a dead legacy niche. lore_activity on coreboot_table.c and gsmi.c returned 2026/2024 chrome-platform traffic with reviewed/acked patches, so upstream attention is current. A removal-search attempt via lore_regex timed out twice, and a fallback lei query was blocked by the local sandbox daemon restriction; with active maintenance and current-product evidence, there is no positive removal signal. Sources obtained via mcp__lore_http__.lore_activity, web.search_query/open results, local file read plus canonical recall of the kernel.org tree URL.