limine ☆

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Description:
Modern, advanced, portable, multiprotocol bootloader and boot manager

Type: Formula | Latest Version: 10.5.0@0 | Tracked Since: Dec 11, 2025

Links: Homepage | formulae.brew.sh

Category: System utilities

Tags: bootloader boot-manager uefi bios system-utility

Install: brew install limine

About:
Limine is a modern, portable bootloader and boot manager that supports both BIOS and UEFI systems. It provides a flexible configuration system and can boot from various filesystems, offering a robust alternative to legacy bootloaders. Its primary value is delivering a unified, feature-rich booting solution for diverse hardware environments.

Key Features:

Supports both BIOS and UEFI firmware
Boots from multiple filesystems (ext2/3/4, FAT, XFS, ZFS, Btrfs, and more)
Feature-rich boot menu with themes and scripting
Can load Linux, BSD, and custom kernels
Portability across x86, RISC-V, and AArch64 architectures

Use Cases:

Setting up a dual-boot or multi-boot system with a unified configuration
Booting custom or minimal Linux distributions on modern and legacy hardware
Embedded systems development requiring a flexible bootloader

Alternatives:

GRUB2 – GRUB is the Linux standard but is often considered complex; Limine offers a simpler config and broader filesystem support.
rEFInd – rEFInd is UEFI-focused and auto-detects kernels; Limine provides deeper BIOS support and a more scriptable environment.

Version History

Detected	Version	Change	Commit
Dec 26, 2025 2:06pm	10.5.0	VERSION_BUMP	52e32251
Dec 11, 2025 8:09am		VERSION_BUMP	eb84293e
Nov 23, 2025 8:09am		VERSION_BUMP	f3b95a48
Oct 29, 2025 11:13am		VERSION_BUMP	89d66aef
Oct 27, 2025 12:54pm		VERSION_BUMP	9de16c10
Oct 27, 2025 4:18am		VERSION_BUMP	50b714af
Oct 13, 2025 11:14am		VERSION_BUMP	3ed80b78
Sep 21, 2025 8:41pm		VERSION_BUMP	18e83842
Sep 21, 2025 8:02pm		VERSION_BUMP	1768a708
Sep 14, 2025 3:30am		VERSION_BUMP	b9389d3c