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by alkoumpa 3168 days ago
if only it wasn't that expensive to get a license for x86
2 comments
snvzz 3168 days ago
x86 isn't that good. RISC-V has similar code density as amd64 while being fairly simpler. There's not much appeal to x86 as an ISA, other than for running legacy software.
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pantalaimon 3168 days ago
running 'legacy software' is for most use cases probably the most important feature.
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snvzz 3168 days ago
Most "legacy software" can be rebuilt from source code. For software where the sources aren't available, there's only a small subset where performance is the main priority. The rest can be handled through emulation.
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userbinator 3168 days ago
The last time I checked, the patents have expired on anything pre-Pentium, and by now the Pentium patents probably have expired too.
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yuhong 3168 days ago
I am aiming for the expiration of Intel patents for stuff up to SSE2, which will likely happen in the next few years.
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