> (FPGA and ASIC tools allow you to sequester the open source block in its own "compilation unit" and compiling that unit separately from the main system, only

> (FPGA and ASIC tools allow you to sequester the open source block in its own "compilation unit" and compiling that unit separately from the main system, only connecting the wires at the last steps) The whole "compilation unit" stuff kind of reminds of the whole debacle with Nvidia (and many other linux driver vendors) creating a "generic" closed source driver, and a thin, useless, open source "shim" layer that connected the closed source driver to the GPL symbols of the kernel. Needless to say, nobody was amused by this. It never went to court, but the linux kernel put various technical restrictions in place to prevent those shims from working. See these notes from kernel 5.9[0]. [0]: https://www.phoronix.com/news/Linux-59-Proprietary-Shim-Taint https://www.phoronix.com/news/Linux-59-Proprietary-Shim-Tain...