# u-boot/u-boot

"Das U-Boot" Source Tree

Repository: https://github.com/u-boot/u-boot
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/u-boot
Language: C
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Last push: 2026-08-26T22:33:13+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 77/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4312, "days_push": 7, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases, no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 5208, forks 4597 (observed 2026-08-28T04:09:12.943030+00:00)

## What it is
Das U-Boot is a widely used open-source bootloader for embedded boards based on PowerPC, ARM, MIPS, and other processors. It is installed in a boot ROM to initialize and test hardware and to download and boot operating system images such as Linux.

## Use cases
- boot linux on an embedded arm board
- initialize and test custom board hardware from a boot rom
- load and run application code over the network on an embedded device
- boot from ata, scsi, sd, or network on a powerpc or mips board
- extend a bootloader with custom monitor commands for a new board

## When to choose
- you are bringing up a custom embedded board and need a first-stage or second-stage bootloader
- you need to boot linux on arm, powerpc, mips, or risc-v embedded hardware
- you want a configurable, scriptable bootloader with network and storage boot support

## When to avoid
- you need a bootloader for x86 desktop or server systems
- you want a simple application-level tool rather than low-level firmware
- your platform is already fully supported by a vendor-specific bootloader you cannot replace

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: active
- function: embedded, developer-tools, file-system, networking
- domain: embedded-systems, operating-systems, hardware, developer-tools
- platform: embedded, cpp
- tags: bootloader, firmware, embedded-linux, arm, powerpc, mips, hardware-initialization, linux

## Member repositories
- u-boot/u-boot (main) score 77

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:12.943030+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 2026-08-29T18:00:13.163570+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/u-boot/u-boot (fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:12.943030+00:00, sha 0c56225bf8e5)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.