Coreboot - BIOS Alternative

coreboot is 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. coreboot can scale from specialized applications that run directly from firmware, run operating systems in flash, load custom bootloaders, or implement firmware standards, like PC BIOS services or UEFI.

Its design philosophy is to do the bare minimum necessary to ensure that hardware is usable and then pass control to a different program called the payload. The payload can then provide user interfaces, file system drivers, various policies etc. to load the OS.