I don't think that is it. The tools aren't open source free, but they are dollar free. Xilinx is the leader in FPGAs and their tools are free. Lattice tools ar

I don't think that is it. The tools aren't open source free, but they are dollar free. Xilinx is the leader in FPGAs and their tools are free. Lattice tools are also free. Not sure about Altera, who is #2. I've worked multiple places that shipped products using only the FPGA vendor's free offerings. The FPGA vendors see the tools as a way to sell silicon.