On Wed, 20 Feb 2019 23:59:36 +0000 Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton <[email protected]> wrote:
> --- > crowd-funded eco-conscious hardware: https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68 > > On Wed, Feb 20, 2019 at 7:54 PM David Niklas <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > > Hash: SHA256 > > > > Or at least it looks like that: > > https://sifivetechsymposium.com/ > > > > Might be interesting to attend (I can't). > > Especially to ask what to do about the companies that are already > > breaking the license of RISC-V. > > that's easy to answer: whilst companies *should* obtain an "official" > JEDEC designation which should go into the mvendor id field of the > hardware, as long as they do not claim it is "RISC-V" they are ok > (Trademark Law). > > in addition, if they make *modifications* to the instruction set, > that's ok too, as long as, again, they do not claim it is "RISC-V". > But, but, it is RISC-V HW... If I don't call the Linux kernel a "Linux kernel" does that mean I don't have to offer the sources plus my proprietary extensions to anyone who buys it? > this is absolutely fine for say a proprietary secret company > developing a proprietary secret product where the firmware will never, > under any circumstances, see the light of day. examples include > Trinamic's excellent new Stepper Motor Controller ICs, where the > firmware is likely to be actually in ROM, on-chip. That's understandable. > where the RISC-V Foundation's half-cocked approach becomes seriously > problematic is as follows: > > * when a Commercial Project needs to release PUBLIC modifications > (custom extensions) which *HAVE* to make their way into general > wide-spread use > > * when a Libre Commercial Project needs to DEVELOP public > modifications (custom extensions) because the RISC-V Foundation forces > all and any development of modifications to go through an official > "ratification process". Yuck. > there *is* no room for Libre *COMMERCIAL* products to interact with > RISC-V Foundation members because all RISC-V Foundation members are > forced to sign an agreement (for cross-licensing and patent protection > purposes). > > this is clearly violating FRAND terms of Trademark Law, by being > "Discriminatory" against Libre Commercial products. > > it is quite clear that the RISC-V Founders never envisaged a scenario > where Libre *COMMERCIAL* products would ever be successful. What? Why no interaction? Does that mean you're currently developing the GPU in the RSIC-V core without any contact with the RISC-V Foundation? That's double talk, "We'll open source the core but no one can talk to the OSS community about it." I sincerely hope I'm misreading this, David _______________________________________________ arm-netbook mailing list [email protected] http://lists.phcomp.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/arm-netbook Send large attachments to [email protected]
