> FWIW, u-boot is not a net-negative at all. For SoC's it simplifies > boot significantly - there is zero reason to eschew the functionality > it brings.
i don't think this is a full accounting of the situation. u-boot has several drawbacks that have hindered my development (a) there are many of versions, the mainline will probablly not work on your special device, and further (b) it often depends on a very special version of gcc, (c) it is full of #ifdefs and vendor code that's hard to read, (d) it is very slow, thus if you need to boot quickly, it might not work for you. i worked on an embedded pcie endpoint, and all these factors cost me 4-5 weeks of dev time, time enough that i could have brought the board up myself directly with plan 9 as a bootloader in tht amount of time. certainly, this is preferrable, no? - erik
