HP joins sponsorship of the Linux LVFS firmware service

Published on May 23, 2026 | Translated from Spanish

HP has become the third major sponsor of the Linux Vendor Firmware Service (LVFS), following Dell and Lenovo. Richard Hughes, lead developer of LVFS/Fwupd at Red Hat, confirmed the news. This decision comes days after Dell and Lenovo began contributing over $100,000 annually to the open-source firmware update initiative.

three corporate server racks side by side, Dell and Lenovo logos faintly glowing on left and right racks, HP logo lighting up on the central rack, a digital firmware update process shown as luminous blue data streams flowing from a Linux terminal screen into the central rack s motherboard, motherboard chipset with fwupd and LVFS labels etched on the circuit board, Richard Hughes silhouette visible in background working at a Red Hat workstation, cinematic technical illustration, cold blue and green LED lighting, high contrast metallic surfaces, glowing circuit traces, photorealistic engineering visualization, shallow depth of field focusing on the central HP rack during firmware injection

Financial support drives Fwupd development 💰

The LVFS allows manufacturers to distribute firmware updates securely through Linux. With HP's backing, the project adds a third major manufacturer willing to cover infrastructure and development costs. Hughes highlighted that this support is key to keeping the platform free from commercial dependencies. Fwupd, the client tool, is already compatible with hundreds of devices from various brands.

HP discovers paying for Linux hurts less than explaining why it doesn't 😅

After years of watching Dell and Lenovo take the credit for updating firmware on Linux, HP has decided to open its wallet. It's not that they've suddenly fallen in love with free software, but rather they probably calculated that sponsoring is cheaper than continuing to receive emails from users asking why their HP laptops aren't updating. Welcome to the club, guys.