[LeFantome]

> Is this really true?

I think the issue is that desktop and server computing are “open” in the sense that you have full control over the software you run on them. So people interpret the dominant desktop and server platform architecture (the world of x86-64) as being open.

The embedded world is mostly closed, you are meant to run the software your hardware comes with. The platform’s popular there are considered less open (ARM and RISC-V).

Mobile devices like phones and tablets are historically closed devices, regardless of ISA. They are generally getting more closed in the name of security.

It is not the ISA that is “open” but the industry.

That said, in RISC-V, there is a sub-current of openness. I do not think that will overcome the industry tendencies in general, but there will be a small cadre of folks trying to create an open presence in every niche. The good news is that there is nothing to stop them. They will succeed eventually.