Free Knowledge Culture Calendar/May 18

Today in 2010 the RISC-V project was started. It produced and standardized an entire open processor architecture (ISA) – free of patent and license fees, versatile and extensible, complete with modern features and formal verification. Originating in academia, the instruction set was initially only used for SoCs and embedded microprocessors, but is now expanding into Android devices, laptops, and potentially server CPUs, offering a third alternative to the closed ARM and x86 ecosystems. Aside from the blessings and values of free software, more of its rising popularity might sadly be due to increased awareness for supply chain dependencies as the political world once again splits into power blocks. While an open ISA does not automatically lead to open hardware, many RISC-V based chip designs are freely available.