4 ms·

>> Well, a full suite of open source (or cheap) EDA tools in general would be nice but that's a whole different, pessimistic discussion. :( Actually for the l

by minthd 11y ago

>> Well, a full suite of open source (or cheap) EDA tools in general would be nice but that's a whole different, pessimistic discussion. :( Actually for the leading edge - the cost of EDA tools is among the largest bottlenecks ,possibly even stopping moore's law - through greatly reducing design starts and breaking the economics of the law.

nickpsecurity 11y ago
That's one point in the pessimistic discussion. Worse that most of the tools hit NP-hard problems whose solutions leverage a combination of public knowledge, esoteric wisdom (often trade secret), and many PhD's worth of algorithms. It's going to be... really hard... to duplicate them plus their results in proprietary or FOSS. Personally, I'd just suggest Bill Gates or another fat cat buy Mentor (cheapest) then dual-license their stuff and offer discounts for early years to startups. Or discount + royalty strategy. Results might get very interesting in terms of innovation.
- minthd 11y ago
  Personally i wouldn't interrupt Bill Gates. He's doing amazing stuff. But it could really appeal to other philanthropists who seek recognition and impact. Another idea i had in that area - why won't great scientists collaboratively start an open DARPA - creating propositions for truly breakthrough science/engineering projects - and letting philanthropists buy and make them happen ? Assuming philanthropists get at least one success from a few trials - it's guaranteed impact - on a very large scale.
  - nickpsecurity 11y ago
    Thing is, what individual or small group of them could I convince to spend almost $2 billion? Bill Gates has plenty more than that and would understand the value of the purchase. He's also trying to give away most of his fortune. Weren't any other names that popped into my mind. Suggestions?

4 ms·

>> Well, a full suite of open source (or cheap) EDA tools in general would be nice but that's a whole different, pessimistic discussion. :( Actually for the l

by minthd 11y ago

nickpsecurity 11y ago
That's one point in the pessimistic discussion. Worse that most of the tools hit NP-hard problems whose solutions leverage a combination of public knowledge, esoteric wisdom (often trade secret), and many PhD's worth of algorithms. It's going to be... really hard... to duplicate them plus their results in proprietary or FOSS. Personally, I'd just suggest Bill Gates or another fat cat buy Mentor (cheapest) then dual-license their stuff and offer discounts for early years to startups. Or discount + royalty strategy. Results might get very interesting in terms of innovation.
- minthd 11y ago
  Personally i wouldn't interrupt Bill Gates. He's doing amazing stuff. But it could really appeal to other philanthropists who seek recognition and impact. Another idea i had in that area - why won't great scientists collaboratively start an open DARPA - creating propositions for truly breakthrough science/engineering projects - and letting philanthropists buy and make them happen ? Assuming philanthropists get at least one success from a few trials - it's guaranteed impact - on a very large scale.
  - nickpsecurity 11y ago
    Thing is, what individual or small group of them could I convince to spend almost $2 billion? Bill Gates has plenty more than that and would understand the value of the purchase. He's also trying to give away most of his fortune. Weren't any other names that popped into my mind. Suggestions?