Intel Tofino P4 Software Open-Sourced Years Later

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  • phoronix
    Administrator
    • Jan 2007
    • 67377

    Intel Tofino P4 Software Open-Sourced Years Later

    Phoronix: Intel Tofino P4 Software Open-Sourced Years Later

    An interesting open-source announcement out of Intel this week is that they have open-sourced their P4 software for their line of Tofino programmable Ethernet switches...

    Phoronix, Linux Hardware Reviews, Linux hardware benchmarks, Linux server benchmarks, Linux benchmarking, Desktop Linux, Linux performance, Open Source graphics, Linux How To, Ubuntu benchmarks, Ubuntu hardware, Phoronix Test Suite
  • edxposed
    Senior Member
    • Jan 2023
    • 316

    #2
    It's like the terminally ill Blue Giant distributing his inheritance on his deathbed.

    Comment

    • pWe00Iri3e7Z9lHOX2Qx
      Senior Member
      • Jul 2020
      • 1595

      #3
      It's therefore a bit surprising/odd that now in 2025 they are finally open-sourcing their P4 software. In any event we welcome all of their open-source software announcements.
      On the flip side, I actually think it should be mandatory to open source all the firmware / software when you kill off a product line. At least give the community a chance.

      Comment

      • HEX0
        Phoronix Member
        • Jan 2020
        • 94

        #4
        Originally posted by pWe00Iri3e7Z9lHOX2Qx View Post

        On the flip side, I actually think it should be mandatory to open source all the firmware / software when you kill off a product line. At least give the community a chance.
        I wish it were the case. Heh maybe in 100 years there will be a law for it.
        But a lot of proprietary software has third party proprietary sublicensed libraries. Not sure how would that work

        Comment

        • brad0
          Senior Member
          • May 2012
          • 1014

          #5
          Originally posted by pWe00Iri3e7Z9lHOX2Qx View Post

          On the flip side, I actually think it should be mandatory to open source all the firmware / software when you kill off a product line. At least give the community a chance.
          As hex0 said all too often there are contractual reasons why that cannot happen. Also another scenario I've seen over the years for firmware is the vendor releasing the source code but there being no toolchain to be able to rebuild it.

          Comment

          • CommunityMember
            Senior Member
            • Oct 2019
            • 1379

            #6
            As I recall, while the Tofino hardware itself did not manage to gain a significant market share (so died), the P4 language itself (and derivatives) was used by at least a few researchers and a couple of networking vendors and at least one hyperscaller as a specification language (not tied to the Tofino hardware).

            Comment

            • yump
              Senior Member
              • Aug 2021
              • 509

              #7
              Oxide used it. Obviously they can't anymore, but presumably they'll be able to reduce the number of blobs on machines currently in the pipeline.

              Comment

              • Developer12
                Senior Member
                • Dec 2019
                • 1584

                #8
                It's bizarre for intel to open source the software for a dead line of chips after they've been killed off, and pretend this is some kind of opening of a great new era for innovation on the platform.

                Oxide could have used this years ago, but not only have they already worked on internal alternatives to it, they've moved on to other chips now that this line is dead.

                Comment

                • billyswong
                  Senior Member
                  • Aug 2020
                  • 710

                  #9
                  Originally posted by HEX0 View Post

                  I wish it were the case. Heh maybe in 100 years there will be a law for it.
                  But a lot of proprietary software has third party proprietary sublicensed libraries. Not sure how would that work
                  Perhaps not necessarily releasing the code, but let it be legal to reverse-engineer (without clean room requirement) any driver or firmware of discontinued products?

                  Comment

                  • sophisticles
                    Senior Member
                    • Dec 2015
                    • 2604

                    #10
                    This bold move from Intel to open-source the Tofino P4 software is more than just a licensing decision; it’s a call to action for the global developer community. It invites everyone—from seasoned network engineers to aspiring students—to participate, innovate, and contribute to shaping the future of networking.
                    Allow me to translate this for everyone:

                    While we have stopped developing this technology any further we realize that there is still a lot of legacy hardware in use and the bastards that use it demand/expect us to keep releasing updated code for the hardware.

                    We are in the business of making money and are not about to pay good money on developer salaries to maintain code for a product that we can no longer make a profit from.

                    To that end we are open sourcing the code so that any dumbass, sucker, chump, clown and zealot that wants to feel important can do for free the work our clients expect us to do.
                    Seriously, read the announcement closely, this is basically what they said.

                    Comment

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