Just got an email from lattice after I complained that they removed the free license for Ice Cube 2. They now will allow hobbyists to use it for free again instead of paying $450.
There seems to be no way to contact Alchitry so maybe they will see this and remove the message at the top of their site.
While it’s mighty nice of Lattice, I’ve had the misfortune of taking delivery of Alchitry Cu these days and the route to iCEcube is far from clear. After navigating their portal to 1998 they call webpage, you will arrive to an email form. Now, their support will semi-automatically reject all emails coming from gmail.com or any other non-corporate domain. The process here is that you need to write an email basically begging for a free iCEcube license. And wait. I’m still waiting.
Somehow I doubt they have any interest in streamlining this in favor of hobbyist and non-commercial users. However shortsighted it may be, someone in Lattice decided they would rather dump 100 users in favor of those more desperate ones, the one who actually invested in integrating their designs and now have little choice.
But for new projects ? Definitely treat them as the kind of switcheroo people who will decide to triple their license fees overnight if some suits decide so.
I’ve updated the notice and iCEcube2 setup pages.
I need to add a contact page still, but you can always email me at justin@alchitry.com.
It’s great they’re allowing free licenses, but the whole needing a license thing is still a pain and email is even more annoying than before.
I’ve been working more with Yosys and, besides a small inout issue, it seems quite capable. I’m excited this is now part of Alchitry Labs and building for the Cu will work out of the box.