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BTW: FreeBSD is on the leading edge as far as RISC V is concerned due to the efforts at the Uni of Cambridge and the CHERI project.

Good news indeed. 👍

To all  and

How long did it take Linux to really get rolling on x86? RISC-V is fairly new still.

The thing is that back then, we in EUrope (& China) bought into the x86 chips and its US tech monopoly dominated ecosystems, from mobile devices, tablets, laptops to servers, datacenters, to high performance computing (HPC) eg what we used to call supercomputers, grew to become massive parallel 86 machines with GPUs to match. ARM & BSD has taken some market share, mostly via Apple, but UK left the EU & ARM is 90% owned by Softbank, a Japanese tech fund. Now, China has been decoupling from the US tech dominance for some time, and Chinese gov buying US x86 CPUs is forbidden, as it wants them to buy Chinese RISC-V and run Chinese Linux on them, there by helping its own (state-owned) industry to decouple from the US dependency. While slower, India is also moving to FOSS & RISC-V eg away from US tech dominance.

https://www.european-processor-initiative.eu/

"EPI vision:
-High Performance Computing needs for Exascale machines
-Low power CPU needs for Servers, Cloud and Edge
-Other markets under exploration"

So the EU Processor Initiative redirected its efforts to also target RISC-V also for HPC and to the edge, and with all the digital decoupling that is happening, this is a smart move. Not only in the hardware, but in the full stack. The US Cloud Act has also helped, as it gives the US gov access to all data hosted on US cloud service providers. Airbus has thrown 50m€s to change to EU owned and EU based cloud, so their information does not end up in the hands of some people in Seattle, who also happens to run a competing US airframe manufacturer.

The ppl behind, are also the Barcelona Center for Supercomputing. So beside the CHIPs, one of the smart things is that you can run almost the same code on RV microchip and server RISCV. So investing in porting EUs software to this, like in the automotive industry, is also the lure. As its open, you are not tied to this or that ecosystem.

While there is not so much to see on the surface, 3 bn cores or 30% of the market last year was RV, but likely microcontrollers and in automotive, so not consumer or servers yet. Also, as more move to Linux in EU, then shifting from x86 to a ARM or RISC-V cpu is already possible today. They don't have to wait for the US tech companies.

So the situation is in my view very different. There is a pre-new-geopolitical-reality and a post-new-geopolitical-reality and those two are very different. Also when EU gov push.

But perhaps a different option and better is not to port OPNsense, but to offer a Linux variant, so tapping into its CPU and hardware support, as the userbase there esp in EU is growing.

Many could do it like this, where he does it on Debian. May not be pretty and no UI, but brute force and SSH can also do, and Linux is a known, unlike BSD.

https://www.pieterhollander.nl/post/debian-router/


Me neither. If they are moving to FOSS and Linux, then EU hardware that is not vendor locked, like Mikrotik & OPNsense will also likely be on the wishlist, as it is for me privately, to replace my Chinese network AP-router. No Chinese or Cisco gear for them either, but we will see.

There is also the bugger turn in EUrope, as Schleswig-Holstein admin is transitioning 30.000 desktops to Linux and FOSS. While many likely chose to use Linux-based routers for smaller offices, as that is what they know and get reeducated in. Unless someone has sold a bunch of OPNsense routers to SH without making it public. Reportedly, they are looking at openSUSE for the desktops.
More will follow. This is a deeper change away from Windows and propriety software, which is likely to spread.

On top there is also that Proxmox and similar visors are popular for running various things, incl a router and often an ad-removal software/docker. They are Linux based and can be setup with A GUI. So that is makng inroads on the router, along with low prices of small computers.  For the power users this has been a new thing, and for the low end, its machine like the Rasberry Pi, that can also do it.
 
Personally, I have been looking into this too, as I am a superuser on Windows, and now have planned to transition my machines to Linux, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

@meyergru

Agree, and we are also bad at paying for things, esp if the money has gone to companies like MS. And them costing say 200€ for W11 home AI & personal account required slop.

FOSS is a different beast, and most projects cannot live of the corporate business alone to pay the bills for the non-profit users well. But also, as they gain in momentum, it should become normal to say just give 10-15-20€ for years use and updates.

When ppl ask on places like Reddit and other inet forums for a router setup for people who are in technical groups but not sysadmins, value foss, . For the simpler and up to 1 gbit, OpenWrT and a compatible access point are often recommended. With 1gb and above, many have a separate APs and router, and here pfsense & OPNsense is what is being recommended. Also the access to cheap 10gb network gear. Perhaps OpenWrT is too cut down? I don't know.
With the loss of trust in general, China, US, W11, US tech monopolies - more is also turning to FOSS solutions in general in Europe, and installing Linux has become both more urgent, but also accessible due to GUI like KDE Plasma and better installers.

You can add AI to the W11 port. I'm sure it will be an instant hit. 😄

Yes, Nix is declarative.

The reason IPFire is being unrecommended, is the guys behind.

So there will likely be users for a Linux router with an OPNsense like user interface and decent support. The Linux user base is growing.

I saw a guide on a guy making a Lenovo Tiny into a 10/10 Debian router. The UI may not be the best for the average user.

IPFire does not get recommended.

OPNsense does, so ppl come here, if they need more then OpenWrT but are not Linux sysadmins.
That has increased manyfold as ppl distrust Chinese & US vendors, myself included.
Many today also run a ad-removal service on their router like Pi-hole.


@Patrick

Thx.

Since Apple is not contributing much to BSD, then most of the lifting has to be done by volunteers, but as Linux is more widely used, thats likely also where many go to help out.


@Patrick

Can the functions be added to Linux's kernel, and would it make sense, if someone was to convince Linus about the importance of it?

I saw the new Mono gateway, and while I like it, it also points to a deeper underlying issue with OPNsense. It trades high network performance of BSD kernel for poor quality drivers and hardware support, which, from my limited point always seems to be behind Linux, and more ppl today are familiar with Linux, unlike BSD. I saw on the openSUSE fora that some use it to route & firewall big internet connections for companies, so it's not unheard of. BSD drivers and hardware support will always be an issue for OPNsense, as few hardwarecompanies want to invest in it, due to its few users. Linux, while imperfect, but due to its larger userbase which is growing, also see better support from hardware vendors and a bigger team working on it. That goes from NIs and CPUs, especially. 
I do understand that the lure of BSD is the routing efficiency of its kernel and low sys footprint. Now, could Linus Torvalds & the Linux kernel team be convinced to increase the routing efficiency of the Linux kernel, if it is possible, and work with the OPNsense guys and girls to do it?
If the above is correct, it cost little to at least start a dialogue with him/them about it.

More info here on the EUropean initiatives.

https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/01/26/3225340/0/en/The-OpenHW-Foundation-unveils-the-first-industry-ready-RISC-V-ecosystem-to-advance-European-digital-sovereignty.html

RISC-V cores should be cheaper than Arm & x86 over time, as there are no royalties to pay for the ISA, and the ISA also allows the software stack to not be tied to a specific vendor like Arm or AMD, but can be used freely on any RISC-V CPU that fulfils the spec. Thu thats also a consideration, as the RV23 spec has only been firmed now, so the chips are mostly not fully RVA23 compliant. But the Titan board above is getting there in terms of performance. 

R5 reportedly has reached 30% marketshare, mostly likely in MCUs. There are movement to R5 in the higher end, incl in India & China, as they are de-US-ing their tech supply and tech dependency. Where FOSS & open standards makes a lot of sense. Also for interoperability.

So is EU working on, incl the Higher-project which aims for RISC-V chips from the edge to server/cloud.
There is also the Tristan & Isolde focussing on EU embedded RISC-V cpus and the EU-processor project. 

https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:4sw44vxmeqjd3idlzyuuenpy

There is a RISC-V summit in Bologna in June I think. Could be a place to network & talk to other EUropeans in the industry.
If Opnsense team works with another EU company or 2 about an EU proejct, its likely to get funded, and some of the project paid to port it.

For the masses, if we can run Opnsense on a small RISC-V for 1, 2,5, 5, 10g speeds, setup network services like vlans, and optionally another like one of the ad-removal DNS services...

FreeBSD has been ported to RISC-V. I don't know if Intels NICs only have BSD drivers for R5?

As of yet, most of the hardware available is US or China, thou its also rumored that there are activities in EU like Sipearl, Kalray, Corbus and others are working in the same segment, incl on automotive. There is also some EU Horizon projects, that aim to develop EU hardware from the edge to HPC. Barcelona SuperComputing Department is also a participant.

US board. There are also smaller boards with 2 NIs or more, but don't know the compute performance needed to run the router & OS compared to their performance. Some of them could make for cheap low end routers for 1-2,5g.

https://www.electronics-lab.com/milk-v-titan-brings-high-performance-risc-v-to-the-mini-itx-motherboard/

https://wccftech.com/european-chip-startup-pulls-off-working-risc-v-solution-on-the-intel-3-node/

https://www.freebsd.org/where/

@PatricMH

Thx. I'll give them a look.

That still leaves the main question.

With all the move towards European tech independence, an RISC-V router with opnsense could be a place to start. I have searched the English forums but no hits.

There are both smaller cards with RISC-V and 2 gbit ports, but also bigger P550-based, which with a 10gb nic could likely reach higher speeds as well. While the P550 is not European it can be used until there are European solutions.

Are opnsense only for firewall duty, or can it also be used for wireless, or do opnsennse users use something else like openWRT for that duty?

https://wiki.freebsd.org/riscv

https://www.elektormagazine.com/articles/the-risc-v-architecture-16-boards-mcus