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Really hoping for RISC-V to take off and become a viable and mainstream alternative for consumer desktop machines so we can have a modern, fully open, and custo

Really hoping for RISC-V to take off and become a viable and mainstream alternative for consumer desktop machines so we can have a modern, fully open, and customizable computer.

octoberfranklin 5y ago
I would love to believe in this, but in practice RISC-V has only gained traction in 32-bit microcontrollers, from companies that simply don't want to pay for an ARM license. If there is a riscv64 server/workstation out there that I can buy, today, I would love to order one.
- pabs3 5y ago
  SiFive are the closest to that.
  - octoberfranklin 5y ago
    Which is what is so depressing. They're the "closest", but not remotely close.
    - pabs3 5y ago
      They have more RAM than my current desktop, so probably they are good enough for many people :)
      - octoberfranklin 5y ago
        Can you be more specific? Like which model you mean? AFAICT all the SiFive products that are available to purchase and have workstation-ish amounts of RAM require boot blobs. I would be happy to be wrong about this. https://forums.sifive.com/t/remaining-agency-issues-to-be-solved/4578 https://forums.sifive.com/t/remaining-agency-issues-to-be-so... Apparently there was a very limited run of dev boards for which no blobs are needed, and then they promptly discontinued that product and replaced it with a (confusingly-similarly-named) blobbified product that you can pre-order via mouser (listed as "backordered, no ETA"). This product is already marked EOL which is not encouraging.
        pabs3 5y ago
        I was just referring to their latest dev boards, which people have put in standard mini-ITX compatible cases, plugged in GPUs and used as workstations. Zero idea what blobs this requires. For eg: https://drewdevault.com/2022/01/15/2022-01-15-The-RISC-V-experience.html https://drewdevault.com/2022/01/15/2022-01-15-The-RISC-V-exp...
        octoberfranklin 5y ago
        > Today I’m writing this on the HiFive Unmatched That board's firmware is not open-source at all. See the link in my previous comment. > Zero idea what blobs this requires. You've stumbled into the wrong thread, my friend. This thread is about open-source firmware. The stuff you're hyping does not deliver that.
        pabs3 5y ago
        I hardly stumbled into this thread, I was the one who posted it to HN. I am definitely not hyping anything, least of all SiFive. This subthread started with the need for RISC-V workstations, I simply pointed out the closest thing to one of those. Of course I didn't mention the firmware situation, which was a mistake, but I also didn't know about the situation.
Aurelius3 5y ago
Isin't risc mainly for embedded systems and low power usage?
- alpaca128 5y ago
  ARM is a RISC architecture and enough to power Apple's Macbooks. Low power can also indicate high efficiency.
throwawaylinux 5y ago
RISC-V doesn't mandate an implementation's hardware and firmware stack be fully open, does it?
- mhh__ 5y ago
  Not at all

Really hoping for RISC-V to take off and become a viable and mainstream alternative for consumer desktop machines so we can have a modern, fully open, and customizable computer.

octoberfranklin 5y ago

I would love to believe in this, but in practice RISC-V has only gained traction in 32-bit microcontrollers, from companies that simply don't want to pay for an ARM license. If there is a riscv64 server/workstation out there that I can buy, today, I would love to order one.

pabs3 5y ago
SiFive are the closest to that.
- octoberfranklin 5y ago
  Which is what is so depressing. They're the "closest", but not remotely close.
  - pabs3 5y ago
    They have more RAM than my current desktop, so probably they are good enough for many people :)
    - octoberfranklin 5y ago
      Can you be more specific? Like which model you mean? AFAICT all the SiFive products that are available to purchase and have workstation-ish amounts of RAM require boot blobs. I would be happy to be wrong about this. https://forums.sifive.com/t/remaining-agency-issues-to-be-solved/4578 https://forums.sifive.com/t/remaining-agency-issues-to-be-so... Apparently there was a very limited run of dev boards for which no blobs are needed, and then they promptly discontinued that product and replaced it with a (confusingly-similarly-named) blobbified product that you can pre-order via mouser (listed as "backordered, no ETA"). This product is already marked EOL which is not encouraging.
      - pabs3 5y ago
        I was just referring to their latest dev boards, which people have put in standard mini-ITX compatible cases, plugged in GPUs and used as workstations. Zero idea what blobs this requires. For eg: https://drewdevault.com/2022/01/15/2022-01-15-The-RISC-V-experience.html https://drewdevault.com/2022/01/15/2022-01-15-The-RISC-V-exp...
        octoberfranklin 5y ago
        > Today I’m writing this on the HiFive Unmatched That board's firmware is not open-source at all. See the link in my previous comment. > Zero idea what blobs this requires. You've stumbled into the wrong thread, my friend. This thread is about open-source firmware. The stuff you're hyping does not deliver that.
        pabs3 5y ago
        I hardly stumbled into this thread, I was the one who posted it to HN. I am definitely not hyping anything, least of all SiFive. This subthread started with the need for RISC-V workstations, I simply pointed out the closest thing to one of those. Of course I didn't mention the firmware situation, which was a mistake, but I also didn't know about the situation.

Aurelius3 5y ago

Isin't risc mainly for embedded systems and low power usage?

alpaca128 5y ago
ARM is a RISC architecture and enough to power Apple's Macbooks. Low power can also indicate high efficiency.

throwawaylinux 5y ago

RISC-V doesn't mandate an implementation's hardware and firmware stack be fully open, does it?

mhh__ 5y ago
Not at all