# Limine-Bootloader/Limine

Modern, secure, portable, multiprotocol bootloader and boot manager.

Repository: https://github.com/Limine-Bootloader/Limine
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/limine
Language: C
License: BSD-2-Clause
License Family: permissive
Topics: bootloader, bios, x86, x86-64, uefi, gpt, mbr, efi, aarch64, arm, arm64, x64, boot-loader, boot-manager, loongarch, loongarch64, loongson, risc-v, riscv, riscv64
Last push: 2026-08-25T13:18:03+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 95/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:39:23.370411+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 87, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 2667, "days_push": 8, "days_rel": 9, "gap_med": 5.0, "n_releases_24m": 93}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 3628, forks 221 (observed 2026-08-28T04:08:11.960562+00:00)

## What it is
Limine is a modern, secure, portable, multiprotocol bootloader and boot manager written in C, and the reference implementation of the Limine boot protocol. It supports IA-32, x86-64, aarch64, riscv64, and loongarch64 systems with BIOS and UEFI boot, MBR/GPT partitioning, and Linux, Multiboot, and chainloading protocols.

## Use cases
- boot linux on a uefi system
- multiboot multiple operating systems with a boot menu
- boot a custom hobby os kernel via multiboot or the limine protocol
- create bootable media for x86-64 and arm64 machines
- chainload another bootloader from mbr or gpt disks

## When to choose
- you are developing an operating system and need a bootloader supporting modern protocols
- you need a bootloader for x86-64, arm64, riscv64, or loongarch64 uefi systems
- you want a lightweight boot manager with linux, multiboot, and chainload support

## When to avoid
- you need filesystem support beyond FAT and ISO9660 without extra setup
- you need to boot legacy systems older than i686-class CPUs
- you want a graphical bootloader with theming like GRUB

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: active
- function: developer-tools
- domain: operating-systems, developer-tools, hardware
- platform: windows, cross-platform
- tags: boot-manager, uefi, bios, multiboot, osdev, x86-64, aarch64, riscv64, loongarch64, bootloader, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- Limine-Bootloader/Limine (main) score 95

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:11.960562+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T18:31:54.256011+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/Limine-Bootloader/Limine (fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:11.960562+00:00, sha 3cd76b4f94d0)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.