On Sun, 15 Mar 2020 17:20:51 -0400 Hendrik Boom <hend...@topoi.pooq.com> wrote:
> On Sun, Mar 15, 2020 at 01:20:24PM -0700, tom wrote: > > > > But this may be a stop-gap if you /really/ need to get an X86 > > machine you already have running. My advice is to stop buying X86 > > in the future and invest in other arches. > > > Like what the libre-risv / libre-soc project is working on > ( currently at https://libre-riscv.org ). But that won't be ready > for a while. > > Also https://www.crowdsupply.com/libre-risc-v/m-class > > They started planning on a RISC-V processor, but the seem to be > moving to a POWER processor for technical licencing reasons. > > -- hendrik > _______________________________________________ > Dng mailing list > Dng@lists.dyne.org > https://mailinglists.dyne.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/dng I've actually used one of the first RISCV ASIC cpus. The Sifive Hifive. It ran Debian just fine and I even connected it to a network and played some multiplayer video games on my laptop vs the RISCV machine clocked at 1Ghz. Compilers fly on RISCV. I do think RISCV is the future, however there's a big problem with RISCV and it's a mixture of political and technical problems. The biggest technical problem is the lack of ASIC northbridge, or rather something to interface the CPU to an PCIE bus. Currently the best thing available you can get is an FPGA and it is a severe bandwidth bottleneck. It's also super expensive getting an FPGA that beefy enough. I don't see RISCV going anywhere until this is solved except microcontroller applications. The second problem is patents that prevent RISCV developers from implementing a lot of popular specs and standards. Just as an example look at the licensing cost of implementing HDMI vs DisplayPort. At least that is how I understand the situation to be, but there are probably more knowledgeable RISCV experts than me -- _________________________________________ / An elderly couple were flying to their \ | Caribbean hideaway on a chartered plane | | when a terrible storm forced them to | | land on an uninhabited island. When | | several days passed without rescue, the | | couple and their pilot sank into a | | despondent silence. Finally, the woman | | asked her husband if he had made his | | usual pledge to the United Way | | Campaign. | | | | "We're running out of food and water | | and you ask *that*?" her husband | | barked. "If you really need to know, I | | not only pledged a half million but | | I've already paid them half of it." | | | | "You owe the U.W.C. a *quarter | | million*?" the woman exclaimed | | euphorically. "Don't worry, Harry, | \ they'll find us! They'll find us!" / ----------------------------------------- \ \ /\ /\ //\\_//\\ ____ \_ _/ / / / * * \ /^^^] \_\O/_/ [ ] / \_ [ / \ \_ / / [ [ / \/ _/ _[ [ \ /_/ _______________________________________________ Dng mailing list Dng@lists.dyne.org https://mailinglists.dyne.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/dng
