Before the Linux Vendor Firmware Service (LVFS), updating your firmware on Linux was, to put it mildly, a hassle. You had to know an update existed, navigate labyrinthine web-pages to find it, then figure out how to install it.

Assuming you could – firmware was often packaged inside of executables that could only be run inside of a Windows environment, which is not ideal if you’d switched to Linux full-time.

In 2017, the arrival of LVFS changed things for the better.

A bit like Flathub but for firmware, LVFS provides a centralised repo where companies can upload, manage, and distribute firmware directly to users who, through fwupd and GUI apps that integrate with it, can check and apply firmware updates with minimal effort.

Ubuntu’s Firmware Updater app is a frontend for fwupd.

In the year’s since, the LVFS has grown to become a critical part of modern Linux system management, and each year more companies make use of it to get their firmware updates out to users of their products and equipment.

Success has a cost, though.

Now, the LVFS is calling on hardware and device makers who use the service to help contribute to its maintenance and its future — with cold hard cash.

Sustainable Future

Project lead Richard Hughes published a new “sustainability plan” last week, in which he outlines a way to secure funding for the project’s long-term health and growth.

While The Linux Foundation currently covers hosting for the LVFS, and Red Hat pays for Hughes’ development time, this model is said to be “less and less sustainable longer term” as the service grows bigger.

“Vendors providing millions of firmware files to end users (and deriving tremendous value from the LVFS…) should really either be providing a developer […] or allocate some funding so that we can pay for resources to take action for them,” Hughes adds in a blog post.

The Linux Foundation is kindly paying for all the hosting costs of the LVFS, and Red Hat pays for all my time — but as LVFS grows and grows that’s going to be less and less sustainable longer term.

Richard Hughes

His new approach introduces a “fair-use” quota system tied to sponsorship levels, but the changes aren’t intended to affect the majority of participants. 

The free “associate” tier includes a generous 50,000 monthly downloads and 50 monthly uploads which, per Hughes, “…means that almost all the 140 vendors on the LVFS should expect no changes”.

A phased approach aims to ease the model in gently so, if needed, any tweaks or special accommodations can be made.

  • December 2025: Over-quota warnings will appear on per-firmware pages for non-sponsoring vendors who exceed the free tier; detailed per-firmware analytics will be turned off for vendors below the “Startup” sponsorship level
  • April 2026: Access to certain custom API endpoints and the number of automated uploads will be limited for vendors below the “Startup” sponsorship level

Companies exceeding the free quota will be faced with… A polite request to contribute; the aim isn’t to inadvertently punish users by denying them hardware updates from source, but cajole the companies making heavy use of the service to fund it.

LVFS has helped foster more than just firmware

More than a functional means to an end, the LVFS’ success has brought more hardware vendors into the Linux fold, many of whom had been reticent to support Linux prior.

A community-vibe has no doubt helped to improve collaboration and communication between different companies on Linux-related matters, adding to the collective pool of knowledge and expertise that indirectly benefits us all.

So in as much as companies are now going to be asked to contribute to LVFS if they make heavy use of it, they’re also being asked to contribute to their own self interest, and the health and security of the wider Linux community.

Heck, I know I’ve made hardware buying decisions based on whether a company makes use of LVFS for firmware updates. Doing so indicates a commitment to supporting their Linux-using customers – and I doubt I’m alone in that, either.

(via LWN)