Asahi Linux progress report

In some cases, essentially yes. Even some niche x86 hardware are booting Linux as the "bios" and then that in turn can kexec a final Linux image, or failing that you're already in a 'rescue shell' instead of having to explicitly reboot into one. And in some distros they do likewise so you can end up passing through 2 Linux kernel's before reaching your actual login prompt in the 3rd layer. CoreBoot -> Linux Payload -> Linux as a Bootloader -> Linux Desktop