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I suppose a better question then is, why isn't this routinely done for factory firmware? It seems that such a distro would be immensely helpful for any kind of recovery. Not to mention that, if it has a web browser, it could be used in a pinch to get stuff done even on a machine with a failed SSD etc.


Asus used to ship it on their laptops,

https://www.rarst.net/software/asus-express-gate/


Lenovo has some form of what appears to be Linux on their newest laptops that can do internet based recovery of the OS. I haven't had time to play with it. It's been way too long coming - Apple devices can boot into a lightweight MacOS and do this and have been able to forever.


Monthly firmware servicing for a bajillion models (to maintain a level of security) isn't exactly something that the OEMs want to sign up for.

About a web browser, forget it with the current SPI flash sizing that vendors use on PCs. Those are way too small for that.




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