go-bootloaders

Classic boot stacks — GRUB, Limine, Syslinux, rEFInd, systemd-boot, U-Boot — reimplemented in pure Go, with no C toolchain.

CGO_ENABLED=0 2 shipped, 4 planned no tagged release yet BSD-3-Clause
Documentation GitHub

Two targets have shipped. The goal is a family of pure-Go, cgo-free reimplementations of well-known bootloaders and boot managers — readable, testable Go in place of the usual C and assembly. grub and systemd-boot are real, tested modules in production use (both consumed by go-diskimages/diskimage) — neither has cut a tagged release yet. The remaining four targets below are still a roadmap of intent, and the status badges are honest about where each one stands.

Targets

grub shipped

pure-Go reimplementation of GNU GRUB

GRUB administration toolkit: opens a GPT disk image, mounts the ESP and a Linux /boot (ext4/btrfs) read-write, reads/generates/patches grub.cfg, registers a UEFI boot entry, and optionally measures boot into TPM PCRs. 93.9% test coverage; no tagged release yet.

systemd-boot shipped

pure-Go reimplementation of systemd-boot (sd-boot)

Boot Loader Specification reader: GPT-locates the ESP, parses loader.conf + BLS entries, reads/writes UEFI BootOrder/BootNext, and measures the selected kernel/initrd/cmdline into TPM PCRs. 92.9% test coverage; no tagged release yet.

limine planned

pure-Go reimplementation of Limine

Modern x86-64 / aarch64 / riscv64 boot protocol. Compact spec makes it a natural early pure-Go implementation.

syslinux planned

pure-Go reimplementation of Syslinux / ISOLINUX / PXELINUX

Lightweight loaders for FAT, ISO9660 and PXE network boot.

refind planned

pure-Go reimplementation of rEFInd

Graphical UEFI boot manager that auto-discovers EFI boot loaders.

u-boot planned

pure-Go reimplementation of Das U-Boot

Embedded / SoC boot firmware across many architectures.

Every module is (or will be) pure Go with CGO_ENABLED=0 and held to the same engineering bar as its sibling organisations: tested, honest about what works, and BSD-3-Clause throughout. For the four planned targets, treat the cards above as direction rather than capability. The brand repo holds the org's logos.