[Linux-aus] RISC-V

[Russell Coker]

RISC-V is the newest CPU architecture and as it's available for free while the 
ARM company has a market cap of over $50 billion at the moment presumably 
because they are expected to get something in excess of $5.5 billion a year in 
ARM license fees.

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/risc-v-laptop-looks-like-thinkpad

I think that RISC-V is a platform that can be fun to develop on, educational, 
and good for the community.  The above article about a $299 RISC-V mini laptop 
is interesting, it's not my favourite form factor but some people really like 
it and 16G of RAM is impressive.

https://sipeed.com/licheepi4a

The above page from the licheepi manufacturer gives specs of the LicheePi 
(like Raspberry Pi), LicheeCluster, LicheePad, and LicheeConsole (the mini 
laptop).

The mini laptop has nice motherboard specs including WiFi6, BT5.4, and 16G of 
DDR4 RAM.  It also strangely is advertised as running VS Code, MS doesn't 
mention support for RISC-V in VS Code so I wonder if that is under emulation.  
It is let down by having a 1280*800 screen (lower than all desirable phones).

The tablet has a 1920*1200 screen and 16G of RAM which is unusually large for 
a tablet and has connectivity options that match what you expect from a laptop 
not a tablet.  It's 1cm thick which is unusual for a tablet, but other than 
that it's specs compete well with regular Android tablets.

https://pine64.com/product/pinetab-v-10-1-8gb-128gb-risc-v-based-linux-tablet-with-detached-backlit-keyboard/

Pine64 also has a RISC-V laptop for $209US but it has only a 1280*800 display.

https://linux.org.au/grants-program/

I think it would be good if we could get a group of people who are interested 
in doing FOSS development on the RISC-V platform and apply for a LA grant to 
buy a collection of hardware.  The grants program is open until the end of 
November so if we could get a group of 5+ people who are interested in 
developing it then I think we could make some good progress.

Yifei I would appreciate some input from you on the sipheed stuff because most 
of the web site appears to be in Chinese and I couldn't even find prices.

-- 
My Main Blog         http://etbe.coker.com.au/
My Documents Blog    http://doc.coker.com.au/