unlocked bootloader?

[andymellon4]

I am not quite sure what this means.....i know that it makes it easier to root but what is the actual idea and what does it do?

in reference to the TB

 

[SixStringTheory]

It doesn't have as much to do with rooting as much as installing custom ROMs.

Locking/encrypting the boot loader makes it impossible to install a custom OS like Cyanogen or Bugless Beast without hacking through/around the protection somehow.

 

[andymellon4]

is it like a firewall in a sense?