Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 10, 2026

Limine (bootloader)

Limine is a portable boot loader and the reference implementation for the Limine boot protocol. Multiboot2, chainloading, and the Linux boot protocols are also supported. Limine supports the ISO-9660 and FAT filesystems.

Last revised
Jun 10, 2026
Read time
≈ 2 min
Length
513 w
Citations
25
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Limine
DevelopersMintsuki and contributors
Stable release
12.3.31 Edit this on Wikidata / 9 June 2026
Written inC, assembly languages
PlatformARM, RISC-V, loongArch, x8623
TypeBootloader
LicenseBSD-2-Clause
Websitelimine-bootloader.org
Repositorygithub.com/Limine-Bootloader/Limine

Limine is a portable boot loader and the reference implementation for the Limine boot protocol.45 Multiboot2, chainloading, and the Linux boot protocols are also supported. Limine supports the ISO-9660 and FAT filesystems.67

Limine aims to provide a more robust alternative to bootloaders like GNU GRUB,8 as well as its own boot protocol as an alternative to the Multiboot specification, with the goal of reducing the amount of work needed for a kernel developer to get a workable 64-bit environment once booted.4

Limine is packaged by several Linux distributions, being offered by Arch Linux, where it is an option in archinstall,91011121314 as well as included in EasyOS15 (a derivative of Puppy Linux16), CachyOS,1718, Chimera Linux,19 and KaOS.202122 Limine is also used by Cosmos23 and supported by SerenityOS.24

See also

See also

References

References

  1. "Release 12.3.3". 9 June 2026. Retrieved 9 June 2026.
  2. Larabel, Michael (2024-08-03). "Limine 8.0 Bootloader Released With LoongArch Support". Phoronix. Retrieved 2025-02-09.
  3. Schürrmann, Tim (2024-08-06). "Alternativer Bootloader Limine 8.0.1 unterstützt LoongArch64-Systeme" (in German). Linux-Magazin. Retrieved 2025-03-07.
  4. "Limine". limine-bootloader.org. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
  5. Holwerda, Thom (2024-08-04). "Limine: a modern, advanced, portable, multiprotocol bootloader and boot manager". OSNews. Retrieved 2025-03-07.
  6. Larabel, Michael (2025-02-17). "Limine 9.0 Bootloader Drops EXT4 File-System Support". Phoronix. Retrieved 2025-02-17.
  7. Schürrmann, Tim (2025-02-17). "Bootloader Limine 9.0.0 entfernt Unterstützung für Ext-Dateisysteme" (in German). Linux-Magazin. Retrieved 2025-03-07.
  8. Larabel, Michael (2024-01-14). "Limine 7.0 Bootloader Released". Phoronix. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
  9. Larabel, Michael (2023-07-31). "Archinstall 2.6 Released For Latest Easy-To-Use Arch Linux Installer". Phoronix. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
  10. Nestor, Marius (2023-07-30). "Arch Linux Installer Now Supports Hyperland WM, Limine Bootloader". 9to5Linux. Retrieved 2023-08-29.
  11. Nestor, Marius (2025-03-30). "Arch Linux Installer Archinstall 3.0.3 Improves Limine Bootloader Support". 9to5Linux. Retrieved 2025-12-06.
  12. Borisov, Bobby (2025-03-30). "Archinstall 3.0.3 Rolls Out with Partitioning and Bootloader Improvements". Linuxiac. Retrieved 2025-12-06.
  13. Nestor, Marius (2025-11-29). "Archinstall 3.0.14 Allows UEFI Bootloader Installation to Removable Locations". 9to5Linux. Retrieved 2025-12-06.
  14. Batt, Simon (2025-12-01). "Installing Arch Linux just got a whole lot less intimidating". XDA. Retrieved 2025-12-06.
  15. darkcrizt (2022-11-15). "EasyOS 4.5 "Dunfell" arrives with a large number of fixes and new sfs". Ubunlog. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
  16. Rudra, Sourav (2023-08-02). "EasyOS: An Experimental Distro With Unique Qualities". It's FOSS News. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
  17. Larabel, Michael (2025-03-30). "CachyOS Adds Limine Bootloader, Easier Samba Integration & NTSYNC Wine". Phoronix. Retrieved 2025-04-25.
  18. Borisov, Bobby (2025-03-30). "CachyOS March 2025 Release Brings Limine Bootloader". Linuxiac. Retrieved 2025-12-06.
  19. Borisov, Bobby (2025-04-21). "Chimera Linux Introduces Key Bootloader Changes". Linuxiac. Retrieved 2025-04-25.
  20. Nestor, Marius (2025-11-30). "KaOS Linux 2025.11 Adds Support for the Limine Bootloader, KDE Plasma 6.5". 9to5Linux. Retrieved 2025-12-06.
  21. Borisov, Bobby (2025-11-30). "KaOS 2025.11 Ships Plasma 6.5.3, Linux Kernel 6.17". Linuxiac. Retrieved 2025-12-06.
  22. Bauduin, Sven (2025-12-01). "KaOS 2025.11: Die pure Essenz von KDE Plasma 6.5 und Qt 6" (in German). PCGH. Retrieved 2025-12-06.
  23. "IL2CPU". cosmos.github.io. Retrieved 2025-03-07.
  24. "SerenityOS Changelog for Monday, February 14, 2022". changelog.serenityos.org. Retrieved 2023-08-29.
Further reading

Further reading