Skiboot support lands in Coreboot

Coreboot, the lightweight open-source extensible firmware project, can now load the intermediate boot stage Skiboot as a payload. This should now make POWER8 and POWER9 (through QEMU) a functioning "board." The next step, per consultants 3mdeb on Twitter (and sponsor Insurgo), is to rebase and push actual hardware support for the Talos II (and T2 Lite). If all goes as planned, this means a potential (and potentially faster) replacement for Hostboot, which is the lower-level portion that launches Skiboot and eventually Petitboot. Note that this development is distinct from Arctic Tern, which aims to build "a better BMC" with its own firmware at a lower level than Hostboot or Coreboot. If POWER9 Coreboot can pull off a faster start time, combined with Arctic Tern it would be an even bigger jump for useability, so we look forward to seeing actual firmware available people can try. 3mdeb is looking for beta testers.