so, this is the acme + plumber + AI discussion, which I think I'd like to stop here, because somehow we got on firmware, and I'll start a new thread on that.
I did not wish to upset people with the AI note. It was referred to me by a friend at Google, who is doing a lot with AI, and thought this use of Plan 9 was interesting. I'd like to point out that it's not always possible to get everyone to use our software as we might like, by people we like, for things we like, in ways we like. People can use our Faberge egg as a hammer, and that's the way it goes. anyway, please see alternate thread I'm starting. On Mon, May 18, 2026 at 12:41 PM Shawn Rutledge <[email protected]> wrote: > > On May 18, 2026, at 16:49, Aleksandar Kuktin <[email protected]> wrote: > > > >> On Mon, 18 May 2026 21:29:16 +0900 > >> [email protected] wrote: > >> If we reach that point, what meaningful agency would remain for the > >> user in operating a computer, and would that level of constrained > >> control still justify calling it a general-purpose system? > > > > Formally speaking, that point has been crossed in an absolute sense > > sometime around 1990, with the introduction of SMM in 386 and 486 CPUs. > > Since the rise of ARM as a major computing platform (ARM always > > includes some sort of a "trusted" execution environment), coupled with > > IME and it's twin on AMD chips, the point has basically been crossed in > > all meaningful ways. > > Maybe some risc-v chips will turn out to be simpler. At least some of the IP > is free, and there could be a proliferation of very different implementations > over time. The definition of a “microcontroller” keeps expanding, there are > always plenty of those to choose from, and they are more likely to be without > hidden processors. > > > What's to be done? Well, excepting use of ancient 386 CPUs or building > > general-purpose computers with overgrown Z80's, we do have these things > > called FPGA chips. Some of them are monsters that have as many logic > > gates as the early SoC's from 2010's and can push those gates at or > > over 1GHz. There are also more modest FPGAs, and among these you can > > find quite a few models that can be used to build a FOSH computer. > > Yeah I wanted to get started with those, but mostly to try making an > open-architecture 2D-optimized GPU. I didn’t get around to it so far. > > > Until foundry access becomes democratized, > > It seems likely, eventually. At least there is https://tinytapeout.com/ but > that’s only for “tiny” designs so far. > ------------------------------------------ 9fans: 9fans Permalink: https://9fans.topicbox.com/groups/9fans/T073a994fa2fd80d1-Ma543e5d4222650edeb70225d Delivery options: https://9fans.topicbox.com/groups/9fans/subscription
