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SPARC has been open source since 2005, complete with high quality implementation released in 2006. 64-bit, 8 cores, 32 hyperthreads, rising to 64 by 2007. Simul
by jlokier 5y ago
SPARC has been open source since 2005, complete with high quality implementation released in 2006. 64-bit, 8 cores, 32 hyperthreads, rising to 64 by 2007. Simulator also provided.
SPARC was able to run Linux and Solaris, and used by Sun in their servers that powered much of the commercial internet in late 90s and early 2000s (before x86 Linux took over).
There have been a few others since then. So relatively sophisticated open source cores for study and modification have been around for many years by now.
It looks to me like the difference with RISC-V is that a larger community has formed around it due to smart organisation and the timing being right, rather than availability.