linux-on-litex-vexriscv

"Linux on LiteX-Vexriscv" [1] is a fun way to get started. The readme includes a table of supported boards, as well as the amount of memory and maximum tested clock frequency. I played with it on an OrangeCrab [2], and was shocked by how easy it was to get it running and by how well it worked despite the slow clock. The FPGA design includes peripherals for GPIO, PWM, serial interfaces, etc., and the kernel includes drivers to talk to them. On the OrangeCrab, everything I thought to try pretty much just worked as expected. That being said, this is mostly just a fun exercise in SoC building, and isn't going to give you PC-like performance. VexRiscv is small and fast and super configurable, but you're still looking at "high-end microcontroller" rather than "low-end application processor" levels of performance. [1] https://github.com/litex-hu