[diamondman]

OP here

This is a severe problem that saddens me greatly. For now I am just writing tools to make JTAG/SPI/etc loading of chips Ubiquitous to the developer writing software/netlists for them. I do not know enough about the place and route math and routines, nor have I seen enough details of real life chips to know the types of real challenges faced. But I will cross that bridge when I get there (maybe it will be someone else :)).

I personally have a huge issue letting anything fundamental I figure out be marked down as the property of a company to have and hold for 20+ years. But I understand the financial rewards and interesting problems are more than enough for many people, so I can not hold it against a student with a PHD worth of debt to need cash. Sigh.

Hopefully if a good enough extensible base exists, people will add pieces on (whatever they can get away with) over a long time. That is all I can really hope for.