> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://itsfoss.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Chimera Linux Dropping RISC-V Over Performance Woes? - URL: https://itsfoss.com/news/chimera-linux-drops-risc-v/ - Published: 2025-03-20T12:59:51.000Z - Updated: 2025-03-28T04:39:36.000Z - Description: Chimera Linux has decided to part ways with RISC-V, at least for now. - Author: Sourav Rudra - Tags: Development Updates, News, #Import 2025-11-08 21:15 📋 Shortly after the article went live, the Chimera Linux team sent out an update on the situation, mentioning that they were offered access to a relatively powerful RISC-V board and that [they will be giving RISC-V another chance](https://chimera-linux.org/news/2025/03/new-riscv-server.html?ref=itsfoss.com). Chimera Linux is an [independent Linux distribution](https://itsfoss.com/independent-linux-distros/) that uses a combination of tools from [FreeBSD](https://www.freebsd.org/?ref=itsfoss.com), the [LLVM](https://llvm.org/?ref=itsfoss.com) toolchain, the[ Musl C library](https://www.musl-libc.org/?ref=itsfoss.com) to deliver a unique experience to its users. Currently, it supports a wide variety of CPU architectures like [aarch64](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AArch64?ref=itsfoss.com) (*64-bit ARM*), [ppc64le](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ppc64?ref=itsfoss.com) (*64-bit PowerPC little-endian*), [x86-64](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X86-64?ref=itsfoss.com) (*64-bit Intel/AMD*), and [loongarch64](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loongson?ref=itsfoss.com) (*64-bit Loongson*). Unfortunately, there is some [bad news](https://chimera-linux.org/news/2025/03/dropping-riscv.html?ref=itsfoss.com) that affects users of the [RISC-V](https://riscv.org/?ref=itsfoss.com) architecture. **What's Happening:** The Chimera Linux team has **decided to drop support for RISC-V hardware**, citing many issues with the architecture that are beyond their control. You see, for offering native RISC-V support, **they had to emulate RISC-V on a high-end x86 machine** with [QEMU-user binfmt](https://packages.debian.org/sid/qemu-user-binfmt?ref=itsfoss.com) emulation, alongside [cbuild](https://github.com/chimera-linux/cports/blob/master/Usage.md?ref=itsfoss.com#:~:text=The%20cports%20collection%20comes%20with%20a%20specialized%20build%20system%2C%20cbuild.%20The%20system%20provides%20a%20way%20for%20people%20to%20build%20their%20own%20binary%20packages%20from%20special%20templates.) for creating new Chimera Linux builds. However, they faced many issues with this approach, where builds would fail randomly due to issues with [QEMU](https://www.qemu.org/?ref=itsfoss.com), cause high power consumption on the x86 machine, and RISC-V packages being built without any tests. They followed this approach because most RISC-V hardware that was accessible and affordable was too weak to build Chimera Linux on, and hardware that could run it, cost too much, or was not available due to sanctions and whatnot. Before you go on to say that the developers didn't give RISC-V a fair chance, keep in mind that they gave it plenty of time ever since they started working on providing RISC-V support back in 2021\. However, they believe that the hardware never matured to a satisfactory level. **What to Expect:** Going forward, all new builds of Chimera Linux for RISC-V will be stopped, with the repositories being frozen and no new updates being provided for it. There is **a possibility that RISC-V support might be reintroduced**. According to the Chimera Linux developers: > If acceptable build hardware is released and is reasonably available to us, the architecture will be reintroduced. > > If that happens, the repositories will be rebuilt from scratch, as if a new architecture, with a process similar to how it was recently done with LoongArch64\. It will be a tier-2 architecture with enforced tests and without LTO just like LoongArch64. They do admit that the possibility of all that happening (as stated in the quotes above) is unpredictable, and they will focus on existing supported architectures. The [announcement blog](https://chimera-linux.org/news/2025/03/dropping-riscv.html?ref=itsfoss.com) is a must-read if you want to read the detailed account of how the Chimera Linux developers arrived at this decision. *💬 Are you disappointed by this move? Were you looking forward to running Chimera Linux on your RISC-V hardware?* **Suggested Read** 📖 [13 Independent Linux Distros That are Built From ScratchUnique and independent Linux distributions that are totally built from scratch. Sounds interesting? Check out the list here.![](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/icon/android-chrome-192x192-37.png)It's FOSSSreenath![](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/thumbnail/independent-linux-distros.png)](https://itsfoss.com/independent-linux-distros/) **Via:** [The Register](https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/19/chimera%5Flinux%5Friscv/?ref=itsfoss.com)