Linux: Pressure on Intel to ditch x86 and move to ARM chips

From	7 <email_at_www_at_enemygadgets_dot_com@enemygadgets.com>
Newsgroups	comp.os.linux.advocacy, comp.os.linux.embedded
Subject	Linux: Pressure on Intel to ditch x86 and move to ARM chips
Followup-To	comp.os.linux.advocacy, comp.os.linux.embedded
Message-ID	<B9IIs.11354$dU.5322@fx12.fr7> (permalink)
Organization	virginmedia.com
Date	2013-01-14 00:18 +0000

Cross-posted to 2 groups.

Followups directed to: comp.os.linux.advocacy, comp.os.linux.embedded

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Linux: Pressure on Intel to ditch x86 and move to ARM chips
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http://seekingalpha.com/article/1090941-intel-making-apple-s-arm-chips-will-leave-samsung-behind

The world + dog now eats from only ARM.
So the pressure is on for Intel to ditch its out dated x86 and
focus on building ARM.

However there are a number of problems with ARM chips.
1. No software headers to define registers and bit fields.
So no portability of software from one version of the
CPU to the next. Absolute ton of work has to be done
to port Linux from one CPU to next even from same manufacturer.

2. Everything is under NDA - so no chance of developers
getting hold of datasheets and getting open source
support to port drivers such as SATA because there
are no software headers in the first place to start
this work, and if you discussed the registers and their
bit fields from NDA'd data sheets to get help
then you are in violation of the NDA.

So you see a lot of projects with limited functions
such as USB + wifi but no ethernet, or ethernet+SATA but no wifi.
Unusual combinations despite being same chip, because
the engineers in that particular factory could not
solve their software problems on their own
or reach out and download open sourced working
code because NDAs prevent source code being released despite such
NDAs being illegal and GPL code hoarding is also illegal.

Despite all that wrong doing, look around you and 90% of the
world is powered by Linux
gadgets for all gadgets worth $30 or more.

There is a way out and that is for companies like NXP,
Microchip or Intel to make their own chip, or licensed ARM chip,
and do it in such a way they also create proper
header files for registers and bit fields, and then make
it into a consistent family that have no NDAs and open source
friendly documentation so that anyone can go build
projects with chips that are not encumbered with NDAs.

The first person to do it properly ditching all NDAs
and making open source friendly chip will be the winner
because they would gobble up the entire market for
Internet of Things worth at least 20 billion devices
in as short a period as 5 years.

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Linux: Pressure on Intel to ditch x86 and move to ARM chips 7 <email_at_www_at_enemygadgets_dot_com@enemygadgets.com> - 2013-01-14 00:18 +0000
  Re: Linux: Pressure on Intel to ditch x86 and move to ARM chips David Brown <david@westcontrol.removethisbit.com> - 2013-01-14 11:06 +0100
    Re: Linux: Pressure on Intel to ditch x86 and move to ARM chips 7 <email_at_www_at_enemygadgets_dot_com@enemygadgets.com> - 2013-01-14 12:15 +0000
      Re: Linux: Pressure on Intel to ditch x86 and move to ARM chips David Brown <david@westcontrol.removethisbit.com> - 2013-01-14 13:21 +0100

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