In the project I am currently working on, I am trying to do most
of the work in a DSP rather than the FPGA so users can make more
modifications without having to install non free sofware.
Out of curiosity, which DSP chip can be programmed with free (open
source or otherwise) software? I struck out recently when looking for
such a beast although I didn't try too hard. Hopefully this would be in
the form of a compiler and assembler instead of just an assembler.
btw, I think altera figures that if you can't buy their development
tools without flinching then you also can't buy enough of their chips to
make it worth it. But I could be wrong about that. But seriously, why
else. Any $$ they make from selling tools has to be a tiny drop in the
bucket.