[therealcamino]

Well, one of the designers of RISC-V was Dave Patterson, who was also the main force behind MIPS 25-ish years earlier. So it's meant to be an improvement, a 5th generation RISC architecture, not just an equal alternative with a different license.

I don't know much about the differences, but the system of standardized extensions is pretty cool and makes the same base architecture applicable to a wider range of applications.

http://www.riscvbook.com/