ARM's less open platform also comes with some advantages though. It's easier for ARM to prevent ecosystem fragmentation and non-standard instruction set extensions. Or to push for migrating to newer platforms like the move to 64bit ARM.
Software is less affected by these issues because it's inherently more flexible. If I install some wonky experimental Linux feature, it doesn't really matter and I can just revert. Different story when this is baked into hardware. The startup costs for independents to contribute to a software only ecosystem is also much lower. How many organisations have the talent to contribute to RISC-V, but wouldn't be able to afford purchasing a license?
Didn't mean to sound so negative but I worry in the hardware space that the advantages of such an open design are not as great.
Software is less affected by these issues because it's inherently more flexible. If I install some wonky experimental Linux feature, it doesn't really matter and I can just revert. Different story when this is baked into hardware. The startup costs for independents to contribute to a software only ecosystem is also much lower. How many organisations have the talent to contribute to RISC-V, but wouldn't be able to afford purchasing a license?
Didn't mean to sound so negative but I worry in the hardware space that the advantages of such an open design are not as great.