The Lemote Yeeloong netbook offers a rare combination for free software enthusiasts: a MIPS-based system that runs OpenBSD without proprietary binary blobs. The author chose this machine to satisfy both a collection of unusual architectures and to learn OpenBSD on portable hardware, deviating from their usual NetBSD preference.

China's pursuit of indigenous processors began with the 863 Program under Deng Xiaoping's leadership in 1986. The Institute of Computing Technology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences took up this mantle in 2001, developing the Godson (Loongson) processor under architect Hu Weiwu. Rather than compete in the crowded x86 space, they selected the well-documented MIPS II architecture as their foundation.

The resulting Godson-1 launched in 2002 through BLX IC Design Corporation. Built on an 180nm process with four million transistors, it ran at up to 266MHz consuming under a watt. Technical innovations included dynamic pipeline execution, out-of-order processing, and early no-execute bit implementation for buffer overflow protection.

Running fully libre software stacks on hardware you can actually examine and modify represents a compelling but niche intersection of ideals and practicality. For developers seeking complete system transparency, the Yeeloong demonstrates that alternative architectures remain viable, if challenging, platforms.