Absolutely huge news. Will be watching progress intently.
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This is really cool to hear about, I’m curious to see where it goes from here.
Oooh! I don’t know much about the real-world desktop use of RISC-V, but the idea of an open-source CPU architecture has always been intriguing to me. Maybe one day I’ll have a powerful laptop made of entirely open-source hardware and software.
Whether or not that may be a pipe dream, I’m extremely glad to see Framework’s mission of 3rd parties producing Framework-compatible parts becoming real. Almost everyone I told about Framework had the same concern, which is that the envisioned ecosystem of parts and manufacturers may never come to exist. This should show that it’s going to happen.
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I sincerely hope that this kind of hardware (and GNU/Linux software) makes their way to automotive industry so we no longer need to worry about dieselgates, expensive ECU/sensors diagnostics and repairs, subscription anti-features that already built into the car, or car manufacturer selling driver behaviors to insurance companies.
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As someone who has hardly ever heard about RISC-V. Can someone ELI5 to me what this actually is?
What are the advantages of a processor like this and is there a world in which I would choose a RISC-V laptop in let’s say 2 year because it is competitive to e.g. Macbook ARM or will this only be something for niche users?
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It’s for running Haiku. The ARM port of Haiku has not managed to gain traction for various reasons, but the RISC-V port is making excellent progress.
Of course for legacy systems with huge software catalogues such as GNU/Linux and Windows it will be ages (if ever) when all the utilities are ported over to ARM, let alone RISC-V. For the everyday user on these mainstream operating systems, there is no urgent need to switch from regular x86.
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The differentiator is that it’s open source. If that’s not something that appeals to you, you would definitely not enjoy a RISC-V processor right now considering they currently perform worse on performance and presumably efficiency. Compatibility is also significantly reduced, since it’s not x86 or even ARM.
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And what made you think it’s a good idea to partner with some shady firm that’s involved in cryptocurrency / NFT?
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The soldered memory is a bummer but cool anyway.
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This is such a great use case for the drop in nature of framework. A person with a normal framework 13 will be able to open it up, pop out the previous board, and drop in the Risc-V board in a matter of minutes. Once they’re done with dev work, pop it back out to have a fantastic X86 pc. Fantastic for dog fooding without the need for a seperate PC. Your ergonomics are the same, same general feel, high quality pc but with a dev board. Incredible what’s being done here.
When I first heard about framework I had no idea they’d be this forward on FOSS and other open standards/technology. Very impressive. I likely won’t buy the first iteration, other devs likely need it more than me, but I’d love to get one at a later point and start out with Risc development. I haven’t even touched arm though, so I’m definitely not the main target for this.
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Same, idk if I’d buy it right away, but if I could scoop one up for $500 USD through the factory seconds program, that’d be sweet. I don’t need one, and idk what I’d use it for, but I do know I want to play with a RISC-V device and see what I can do with it… but I don’t want to buy e-waste either.
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This is very cool, just spent all my money on a FW16 but maybe down the line I’ll grab a factory seconds 13 to drop one of these into.
eMMC is not a limitation of the processor. Deep Computing offers the same with an SSD. And two other RISC-V laptops based on the same processor also can support SSDs. Those just started hitting the wider news today, so… And with prices that are, ahem, “competitive.”
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What’s wrong with that? All they did was offer an NFT if you purchased their first laptop
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Preorders when? Sign me up! I’ve had my eye on the StarFive JH7110 in SBC format for a while now, so this news is VERY exciting. I’ll be following any developments closely and cant wait to see what comes of it.
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Many of us wouldn’t want anything to do with shady actors like that. It’s about broken trust.
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Now the next bit of news I want to hear is that at some point FW will bring ARM into the fray. Smart for not jumping right into the pile w/ the other manufacturers adopting Snapdragon X. Let that one play out first.
Definitely excited about a RISC-V variant, even though it’s not for me. Glad developers will be able to get there hands on a consumer product to develop for.
What an exciting time!!!
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First of all, welcome to the Framework community @Han_Hui_Teoh 
Are you referring to something DeepComputing has specifically done regarding their use of these technologies, or are you saying that all cryptocurrency/NFT related work is inherently bad?
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I don’t get the eMMC memory either, surely not a limitation of the processor. Competitive boards like SiFive Unmatched have NVMe as well. Sounds more like a cost saving measure
I’ve got hopes the board itself will be quite cost competitive compared to their intel and AMD boards.
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