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Comment by setpatchaddress | Hacker News Reader

What happened to the requirement to second-source semiconductors?

Same thing that happened to the requirement to code DoD software only in Ada: the requirement was scrapped when it became obvious the marketplace had shifted so much that the DoD would have to choose between second-sourcing obsolete gear or staying current with technology the market was postured to deliver.

There is absolutely no legal reason that the DoD can't take Intel/AMD/Whomever's designs to alternative manufacturers. Unfortunately in the name of making the richest among us richer, our leadership hardly exercises the DoD's blanket license of all things patented. Along the same lines, we no longer break up companies that dominate their industry, giving us fewer choices for alternative manufacturers.

Maybe no legal reason but there is a technical reason: a chip designed for a specific manufacturing process (e.g. IBM Cu-32) can only be made on that process and there may only be one fab that can run the process. The chip would have to be somewhat redesigned to be manufactured elsewhere.

Are you sure they still do? Since 2015, patents are property for 5th amendment purposes: https://cip2.gmu.edu/2015/06/22/supreme-court-recognizes-tha...

Does the DoD have the right to demand designs and knowhow from Intel and AMD? Patents alone are really not much use.

In the name of national security, I would hope so. Why wouldn't it? US Companies don't mean much if there's no US behind it.

The issue is there is no overt war to drive the nationalism support necessary to push people into freely transferring knowledge. It seems to magically appear, when there's a feeling of imminent danger but ppl question it in times of peace.

> ADA

IIRC (from the days of Electronics magazine) VHDL was also defined for the purpose of allowing US DOD to be manufacturer-independent.

What parts of a modern system can even be second-sourced?

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