Intel Details The Accelerators & Security Features For On Demand / Software Defined Silicon

[skeevy420]

It's called a free market, the idea that certain things (not harmful to personal or national safety) should be "illegal" to sell is a pretty strange idea.

Just because you don't like it is poor reason society should be able to say "you're not allowed to sell it", especially when the market is functioning to provide alternatives (like AMD Epyc).

It's environmentally wasteful. Multiple identical pieces of hardware where the only difference is software restricting what the hardware can do.

And it isn't a free market. If it was a legitimately free market then they wouldn't restrict what crops farmers can grow, drug sales and consumption, alcohol could be bought on Sunday regardless of where you lived, where cars are allowed to be bought and sold and by who, enforcement of nutritional information and ingredients lists, allergen warnings instead of letting the consumer assume, adding uranium to glass, prescription medication and surgical procedures needing government approval, forcing safety sensors on garage doors and gates, taxes on specific products like sugar and oil, how you space wood and wire when building a house, where you discard refuse, and a whole hell of a lot more that the average person isn't even aware of. Adding one more rule or regulation that states companies can't artificially create product lines with firmware isn't any different than all the other rules and regulations on the "free market" that ensure safety or enforce standards or tax vices or limit freedoms.

Just because you see a bunch of crap in stores and Amazon doesn't mean that there aren't a bunch of rules and regulations to follow in order to get there.

It isn't alternatives; it's alternative. You can pick from AMD or you can pick from Intel. That's it.

[ll1025]

Software defined silicon sounds appropriate for an fpga but no for this crap.

They're integrated ASIC / FPGA functionality, at least from the looks of Quick Assist.

There's reasons as an end user not to like it but as long as there's alternatives (like AMD) it's hard to get upset.

This isnt even really new for Intel, they've long locked built-in functionality like extended memory addressing (1.5TB vs 768GB) or AVX behind different SKUs. This just makes it easier to not have to worry about which specific SKU you get. Given the current realities of an artificially segmented market / binning, being able to correct a procurement 'oops' is an attractive option for an enterprise.

[ll1025]

I still wonder which politician messed up so horribly that such a thing can be legal.

It's called a free market, the idea that certain things (not harmful to personal or national safety) should be "illegal" to sell is a pretty strange idea.

Just because you don't like it is poor reason society should be able to say "you're not allowed to sell it", especially when the market is functioning to provide alternatives (like AMD Epyc).

[ll1025]

I hope someone will find out how to circumvent this.

Not really relevant for the intended enterprise market. No sane datacenter architect is going to build their stack out relying on pirated processor features.

[RejectModernity]

Let's evoke even more hatred:

https://www.theverge.com/2022/11/23/...-feature-price




What about DLCs? Never bought a single one, I don't f-ing care. Most DLCs suck ass anyways.

Try to play paradox games without DLCs, all mechanics are there, without them you're playing an empty shell.

[birdie]

Let's evoke even more hatred:

https://www.theverge.com/2022/11/23/...-feature-price

That's what they said about DLC in video games.
That worked out well, huh?
In comparison, people reacted violently to NFTs, that was enough to get attention and let corporations know people have had enough.

What about DLCs? Never bought a single one, I don't f-ing care. Most DLCs suck ass anyways.

[Ironmask]

Do. Not. Buy.

That's what they said about DLC in video games.
That worked out well, huh?
In comparison, people reacted violently to NFTs, that was enough to get attention and let corporations know people have had enough.

[birdie]

This isn't an Open vs Closed source issue, my dude. This effects every OS on every platform because this is selling hardware only to make you pay more to fully unlock it.

Do. Not. Buy.

[Ironmask]

Again, Open Source fans show their worth. Not actually helping open source, not starting or having any businesses, never designing a single IC, yet, "We hate, hate, hate". Perfectly explains why an Open Source desktop OS continues to find itself in the deepest hole.

You may or may not be surprised by this information, but software is vastly cheaper to develop than hardware, especially modern CPUs which take billions of dollars in extremely sophisticated and complex machinery to produce. Hobbyists can and do develop free software alternatives, but it's far more difficult to create hardware, especially at the rate of megacorporations who can buy the physical land, buildings, machinery and paychecks for the employees that are required to make said chips.
Are you by chance a politician? I never hear anyone else beside them unironically say "why don't you just buy more money?"

[skeevy420]

Again, Open Source fans show their worth. Not actually helping open source, not starting or having any businesses, never designing a single IC, yet, "We hate, hate, hate". Perfectly explains why an Open Source desktop OS continues to find itself in the deepest hole.

This isn't an Open vs Closed source issue, my dude. This effects every OS on every platform because this is selling hardware only to make you pay more to fully unlock it.