Comment by valera_rozuvan | Hacker News Reader

Comment by valera_rozuvan | Hacker News Reader

Quote from [1]:

RISC-V has some nice work and support but that software/firmware/optimized OS ecosystem does not develop itself overnight. And x86 and ARM are still propitiatory ISAs but also have mature software/firmware/OS(Optimized) ecosystems.

Now just because the Power9/Power ISA is opened up does not mean that IBM’s specific hardware implementation that executes that now Open ISA is open, and ditto for any other MIPS ISA or RISC-V ISA running on others’ custom hardware implementations. Folks it’s the underlying hardware implementation that gets the real work done and an ISA is nothing more than a execution template that can have any specific custom hardware implementation being more efficient or less efficient depending on that in-hardware implementation that’s engineered to execute the ISA.

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[1] https://www.nextplatform.com/2019/08/20/big-blue-open-source...

Why cite another source:

* this article acknowledes that while open-source hardware requires an open-source ISA, this requirement is not sufficient

* this article mentions open-source hardware that implements the open-source RISC-V ISA, and the type of applications and research that this hardware is used for (e.g. eliminating Spectre-like timing attacks). It also mentions how such research is pretty much impossible to publish for non-open-source hardware using non-open-source ISAs.

> this article mentions open-source hardware that implements the open-source RISC-V ISA, and the type of applications and research that this hardware is used for (e.g. eliminating Spectre-like timing attacks). It also mentions how such research is pretty much impossible to publish for non-open-source hardware using non-open-source ISAs.

Yes, That's the main point IMHO. It's firstly about making research easier and decoupled from some companies, allowing you to then push given companies to adopt research. It also slightly increases the chances for more competition on the CPU marked by making entry easier for new companies. Lastly it's useful for countries which want to become less dependent on the US.

The idea that somehow an open source ISA will lead to open source hardware which will replace well established hardware is a bit to optimistic in my opinion. But it can do a lot good even without it.

Personally, I have no doubt RISC-V will largely replace proprietary ISAs and chips in some market segments. What I doubt is that your desktop, laptop, and phone are those segments.

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