U-Boot
Shares rank 3 of 7 bootloaders by recommenders
Free, powerful bootloader that people value for scriptability; critics find it tedious to write and debug and say it is not a unified firmware interface.
Free, powerful bootloader that people value for scriptability; critics find it tedious to write and debug and say it is not a unified firmware interface.
12 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 9
- criticize it
- 3
- approval share
- 75%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 9 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 5 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Powerful, scriptable bootloader
“It's the most powerful bootloader I've ever worked with, but writing new stuff and debugging it is tedious.”
Comment from 13 Nov 2025 in “Denx (a.k.a. U-Boot) Retires” “I like how scriptable it is.”
Comment from 13 Nov 2025 in “Denx (a.k.a. U-Boot) Retires”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Not a unified firmware replacement
“And UBoot is great. But it isn't a standalone replacement for a unified firmware interface”
Comment from 28 Oct 2026 in “Code-execution flaw in UEFI firmware threatens most servers on planet Earth” “Recent uboot supports efi which then muddies the water more.”
Comment from 28 Oct 2026 in “Code-execution flaw in UEFI firmware threatens most servers on planet Earth” Too large for x86 use
“Uboot on x86 is like a snowplow on a hatchback.”
Comment from 18 Oct 2026 in “Libreboot 26.10 "Ominous Olive" released with UEFI, Chromebook support” “I know u-boot can do it, but that's 8+ MB.”
Comment from 3 Feb 2026 in “Floppinux – An Embedded Linux on a Single Floppy, 2025 Edition”
Other bootloaders people recommend
The four most recommended other bootloaders, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| systemd-boot | 14 | 0 | 100% | 7 | — | Approved |
| ZFSBootMenu | 13 | 2 | 87% | 8 | — | Approved |
| U-BootThis page | 9 | 3 | 75% | 5 | — | — |
| GNU GRUB | 9 | 24 | 27% | 5 | — | — |
| OpenCore | 8 | 1 | 89% | 7 | — | — |
What people said
10 of the 12 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Recent uboot supports efi which then muddies the water more.”
“And UBoot is great. But it isn't a standalone replacement for a unified firmware interface”
“Uboot on x86 is like a snowplow on a hatchback.”
“u-boot with display support and graphical menu”
“personally I've always fared better with U-Boot”
“U-boot and coreboot are free”
“it sucks at having to plug a damn USB-serial cable in 2026 in order to get a prompt”
“I know u-boot can do it, but that's 8+ MB.”
“It's the most powerful bootloader I've ever worked with, but writing new stuff and debugging it is tedious.”
“I like how scriptable it is.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.