# RISC-V unikernels and open firmware at QCon and Open Compute Summit

DevFeed: [RISC-V unikernels and open firmware at QCon and Open Compute Summit](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/an-enigma-unikernels-booting-on-risc-v-a-rack-encased-in-liquid-oh-my-35164.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://blog.jessfraz.com/post/enigma-unikernels-risc-v-oh-my/>)

Published: 2019-03-17T15:25:24Z

Content type: opinion

Language: en

Sources: [Jessie Frazelle](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/jessie-frazelle.md>)

Topics: [RISC-V](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/riscv.md>), [Open Source](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/open-source.md>), [Hardware](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/hardware.md>), [coreboot](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/coreboot.md>)

Tags: [bare-metal](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/bare-metal.md>), [cloud](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/cloud.md>), [coreboot](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/coreboot.md>), [hardware](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/hardware.md>), [open-source](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/open-source.md>), [risc-v](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/risc-v.md>)

## AI overview

The author reflects on discussions about RISC-V support in major cloud providers, MirageOS unikernels booting on bare-metal RISC-V, and open firmware demonstrations using LinuxBoot and Coreboot at the Open Compute Summit.

## Source excerpt

I have written a bit about how I am spending my time while being unemployed and I thought I would continue. There was one thing I had left out of my previous post on my visit to the Pentagon. THEY HAVE A REAL ENIGMA MACHINE THERE. Okay, moving on... QCon and University of Cambridge I gave a talk at QCon on SGX and ended up giving the same talk to some really awesome folks at University of Cambridge. Each time I gave the talk provoked some really interesting conversations. One of the topics that came up a couple of times was if RISC-V was going to be supported by any major cloud provider anytime soon. My honest opinion, which some might disagree with, is this is years away BUT it would certainly help adoption and integration into projects if it was backed by a company with a lot of time to develop integrations. Also I got a bit nerd sniped by some ARM folks and researchers to look more into TrustZone (which is the ARM secure enclave). I haven't dug in yet but it's on my list. It was awesome spending a day in Cambridge (thanks Anil for the tour!) and learning about all the awesome things they are doing. The MirageOS team is booting unikernels on baremetal RISC-V! 🎉OCaml boots on bare-metal @ShaktiProcessor @risc_v! 🎉 An important milestone towards building safer apps using @OpenMirage on open source hardware. pic.twitter.com/XFosAxPROR -- KC Sivaramakrishnan (@kc_srk) March 1, 2019 They use this on boards to power light bulbs (at the University!) super securely since it removes the need for all the shitty firmware most other things ship and has a super minimal environment. I'm sure you can think of a number of different other use cases as well. Honestly, unikernels replacing all the crap firmware in the world would be a huge win. Open Compute Summit Just this past week I spent a day at the Open Compute Summit. What is happening there in the open firmware space is truly awesome. They had demos of hardware they are booting with LinuxBoot and Coreboot. Facebook runs this on