--- crowd-funded eco-conscious hardware: https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68
On Mon, Jul 18, 2016 at 11:26 AM, Manuel A. Fernandez Montecelo <[email protected]> wrote: > 2016-07-18 01:38 Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton: >> >> >>> MIPS it's a more realistic possibility, but I am not sure if IC1T is a >>> very good option, if it has no foothold in the market yet, has zero >>> distributions supporting it, and it doesn't offer clear advantages in >>> other areas (??). I wouldn't mind at all to get one of those, but I am >>> not sure if many people will follow... so would be bad in terms of >>> effectiveness. >> >> >> if it can't have debian... yeah. as in, because the open64.net >> compiler "isn't called gcc", it's almost impossible to *do* a debian >> port. > > > As you probably know, but others perhaps not, it's not just a matter of > the compiler, but also to port many many software packages and > submitting patches upstream and take care of this for years. > > For ARM, MIPS, SPARC, PowerPC and the rest of non-Intel-but-well-known > it's maybe not 100% perfect, but there are Debian (or other distros/OSs) > ports working almost as well as the best ones. But I suppose that for > IC1T it's not the case at all, so it would need a lot of effort also in > the software front, for years. yeahyeah.... it's too much. >> ... but if you *don't do* that licensing, and instead try to replicate >> them all, you are immediately placing the entire project at risk. >> bear in mind that TSMC won't talk to you if you make a failed chip >> (first time) because you're wasting their time. and it costs $USD 2 >> *MILLION* for the production masks (the lithographic masks like an OHP >> plastic sheet) > > > I don't really have any idea about the fabrication processes, but > according to this: > > https://dev.sifive.com/documentation/freedom-u500-platform-guide/ > > "The resulting customized U500 SoC is optimized for manufacture in a > TSMC 28nm metal-gate process, and delivered as packaged tested parts > by SiFive." > > and contains most of the technologies that you mention, except video, > but maybe the custom accelerators can substitute traditional GPUs. yeah the "except video" means it can't be used (as a SoC). connecting a GPU via PCIe.... mmm... you're at what... between 20 to 1000 watts there, depending on the GPU? and up to *FOUR* DDR3/4 lanes? WOW. 128-bit-wide memory access. yowser. that's going to be something like 12-20 watts just on memory access. > Yeah, I agree. I was only saying that if one's going to go out of > her/his way and consider IC1T for a future option, RISC-V can be a more > interesting and future-proof alternative *than IC1T* (not better than > ARM or MIPS at the moment). ... we still have to have the OS support. so we still need to wait for debian, arch and fedora to catch up. > Also, that I'd consider to do this only a few years down the line, not > now -- and focusing only in the A20 at the moment. ... and other low-power SoCs. > Yeah, Loongson would be also good, although I am not sure if they will > keep it active or if they'll abandon it in favour of others. well it's the one that the chinese government is pushing for their independent supercomputer - intel lost out there thanks to the NSA, congratulations U.S. Government you just f*****d your own economy well done! l. _______________________________________________ arm-netbook mailing list [email protected] http://lists.phcomp.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/arm-netbook Send large attachments to [email protected]
