Linux

Godot isn't even officially supported on ARM, so I don't expect to see it on RISC-V anytime soon. It might work anyway (if you compile it yourself). Or it might work (slowly) via x86_64 emulation in qemu. But if having Godot working is a make-or-break for you, I'd say this architecture isn't appropriate for you yet.

What are your predictions on consumer hardware for the next decade in relation to RISC-V?

I had 2023 marked as the Year of the RISC-V SBC. But I think it's more than that : with the Lichee Pi coming with Debian pre-installed, and looking stable, RISC-V is on the verge of consumer-grade hardware. There are other devices from Sipeed, Pine64 and others too, of course, including laptops and tablets.

I think the real watershed will come in 2025/26 though. It's widely predicted that more powerful RISC-V processors will be ready by then.

We know that some Chinese tech organisations are working tirelessly on RISC-V, and I think we can expect to see them really pushing the technology. But Qualcomm, Broadcom, NXP etc. are going for it too. Qualcomm (feat. Nuvia) have real design prowess, and also have every reason to go RISC-V.

Explaining computers did a video on him daily driving a RISCV chip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Na6PT4npsMg

(Edit: just realized you saw it)

The tldr is that many things work. Debian is pretty stable on riscv but most applications aren't compatible yet. Also, most riscv chips are really weak compared to x86/arm. I wouldn't say you can daily drive it yet.

I think RISCV has a bright future but it's a few years out. Laptops and tablets will be awesome with it thanks to how efficient it is. Handheld devices will also benefit. I'd guess it's 2 years out or so until it's stable to use, and at least 4 years out to start getting mainstream and becoming well-supported.

I use Godot 3.5.2 to develop games for x86_64, can I just open that with some compatibility system?

Highly doubt it.

Already have a RISC-V soldering iron, namely Pinecil by Pine64

Not directly related but RISC-V is also really nice to to program with. I hope it takes off because it has fewer niche instructions that may slow down a system (x86 sucks in that regard).

I really like the Lichee Pi 4A, and I hope to get one when I next need to buy a computer. My computing needs are relatively light, and I think the Lichee Pi would be perfectly sufficient.

I check the Alpine repository from time to time - https://pkgs.alpinelinux.org/packages - just to see what apps are available for RISC-V : and actually, it's impressive to see the amount of work that has gone into rebasing apps. Godot doesn't appear to be there for RISC-V though, sorry.

So my advice would be to realise what apps you really need, and check if they're available yet. And if they aren't it's always worth contacting the app maintainer.

You may want to check the Pine64 wiki for their RISC V tablet. Different thing but you may be able to get a ballpark of it's current capabilities and possible performance quirks

As far as I know there isn't any real RISC-V desktop ecosystem yet. Most uses these days are embedded. Besides performance, there are a lot of applications that aren't compatible with it. Unless you can verify that your specific needs can be met with RISC-V now, you are probably better off getting a system from System76 or the like that tries to reduce or outright disable IME. Alternatively you may be able to do it with Coreboot/Libreboot.

Hello Piped Bot. I use Freetube or Newpipe, but yes of course do a Piped link out of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ke7d0iO_-0

Even a decade old 486 is decent for "daily driving" if you have really low standards.

t. I'm planning on going "hermit mode" for a bit and enjoy some text-only, old school internet.