riscv-tools
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riscv-software-src
Repo status and deprecated note
There are some comments in issues https://github.com/riscv/riscv-tools/issues/290#issuecomment-536127889 and https://github.com/riscv/riscv-tools/issues/278#issuecomment-469447363 which say riscv-tools should not be used. In the case that this is correct, it might be good to add a note to the README stating that status. I can create a PR for that, but do not want to presume the repo condition.
Those comments are all referring to the fact that riscv-tools used to contain a broken compiler that was generating bogus compiler bug reports, which was a major problem for me, the compiler maintainer. But the compiler was removed, so that problem has been fixed.
There is still the problem that no one is actively maintaining riscv-tools. It used to be that rocket-chip included riscv-tools, and the only time anyone ever updated riscv-tools was when rocket-chip was broken and needed a fix merged into riscv-tools. But now I think that rocket-chip no longer uses riscv-tools, and hence no one is updating it anymore. I see no updates since April, when the compiler was removed.
As for the submodules, riscv-pk has been deprecated and replaced with opensbi, though it may still useful for some applications. I think the others are still being maintained, it is just that no one is pulling those updates into riscv-tools, making riscv-tools pretty useless. Vector extension support was added to riscv-isa-sim for instance, but it isn't in riscv-tools.
Actually, for riscv-pk I was thinking bbl, which is deprecated, but there is also the pk proxy kernel that may still be in use.
Thanks @jim-wilson for the explanation.
As no one is updating the repo I think adding a warning to start of the README feels like a sensible addition. Maybe even to the repo's description (which I can not do). Or maybe it makes sense to archive the repo? As all the submodules live on their own, this repo might not provide any benefit.
I know that looking at the date of the last commit gives already an indication, but for me that was happening on the second glance, after I cloned the repo and wanted to get started.