Besides, in this day and age, anything this clueful deserves a brownie point or two. If you think otherwise, try working around all the A+ certified ijits (that I call coworkers) for 8 hours.
Give the guy a break!
by
PHAEDRU5
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
I remember dreaming my own CPU with bit slice logic. In fact, I'm pretty sure I can find some BYTE photocopies and other notes from my first attempt in like 1980, or so.
I remember dreaming of building cards to hook to an S100 bus, including a Z-80 CPU with a ROM and redirection logic.
I mean, I can see how things change. It's kind of interesting to see a whole generation of hardware hackers think in terms of gate arrays, or their children. Who never smelt solder.
-- 668: Neighbour of the Beast
Re:big deal
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 5, Insightful
Undergrads at most universities build their own CPUs. It's just a matter of coughing up the $$ to fabricate them.
So what you meant to say was Undergrads at most universites design their own cpus. Using your definition I could go build another Great Pyramid. I just wouldn't have to actually BUILD it, just draw some pictures.
Re:And the point?
by
Skim123
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
Yeah, it lacks a point. Kind of like playing computer games, reading, watching TV, or any other hobby. Oh wait, all those things are fun and enjoyable (save the watching TV part). Maybe that's why he did it?
--
I could not justify my existence if I were a turkey farmer. Would I terminate myself? Undoubtably, yes.
Yep, big deal
by
duck_prime
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· Score: 4, Insightful
Undergrads at most universities build their own CPUs. It's just a matter of coughing up the $$ to fabricate them.
At Berkeley in the early 90's we were still doing this. So the guy's claim is hardly unique.
That said... It is pretty hard, and is something to be proud of. This guy's accomplishment is going past a basic fetch-ALU-store implementation and actually building something useful on top. Also, his documentation is superb. This last is a jewel beyond price in professional IT.
Making your own CPU has great pedagogical value too... it really demystifies what goes on inside the machine, and gets you ready for ars technica digests!;)
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Never heard of an FPGA?
Besides, in this day and age, anything this clueful deserves a brownie point or two. If you think otherwise, try working around all the A+ certified ijits (that I call coworkers) for 8 hours.
I remember dreaming my own CPU with bit slice logic. In fact, I'm pretty sure I can find some BYTE photocopies and other notes from my first attempt in like 1980, or so.
I remember dreaming of building cards to hook to an S100 bus, including a Z-80 CPU with a ROM and redirection logic.
I mean, I can see how things change. It's kind of interesting to see a whole generation of hardware hackers think in terms of gate arrays, or their children. Who never smelt solder.
668: Neighbour of the Beast
Undergrads at most universities build their own CPUs. It's just a matter of coughing up the $$ to fabricate them.
So what you meant to say was Undergrads at most universites design their own cpus. Using your definition I could go build another Great Pyramid. I just wouldn't have to actually BUILD it, just draw some pictures.
Yeah, it lacks a point. Kind of like playing computer games, reading, watching TV, or any other hobby. Oh wait, all those things are fun and enjoyable (save the watching TV part). Maybe that's why he did it?
I could not justify my existence if I were a turkey farmer. Would I terminate myself? Undoubtably, yes.
That said... It is pretty hard, and is something to be proud of. This guy's accomplishment is going past a basic fetch-ALU-store implementation and actually building something useful on top. Also, his documentation is superb. This last is a jewel beyond price in professional IT.
Making your own CPU has great pedagogical value too