Path: utzoo!utgpu!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!lll-tis!helios.ee.lbl.gov!pasteur!zabriskie!spp
From: spp@zabriskie.uucp (Steve Pope)
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: How the Japanese will win the MIPS wars with SPARC
Message-ID: <5411@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU>
Date: 2 Sep 88 18:37:12 GMT
References: <58@zeno.MN.ORG> <487@mipseast.mips.COM>
Sender: news@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU
Reply-To: spp@zabriskie.UUCP (Steve Pope)
Organization: Postgres Research Group, UC Berkeley
Lines: 12

>> 	All of these (RISC) architectures, except SPARC is proprietary.

The government has chosen the MIPS architecture for several of its
programs partially based on the fact the architecture was not
proprietary.  I can't visualize much commercial business developing
for a totally proprietary architecture either.  You'd have to get
all your compiler writers to sign nondisclosures.  Too much bother.

Is the Motorola 88000 architecture proprietary?  What about the AMD
29000?  In fact, could somebody name a RISC architecture that
*is* proprietary?

steve