Semiconductor skills · Proposed community project

Exploring an open-source chip-design workshop for Wazobia Linux

Open-source chip-design tools offer a practical subject for a Wazobia Sands learning project. A first workshop could show how digital designs become physical layouts while documenting what it would take to make the exercise repeatable on Wazobia Linux.

Research checked 28 September 2026

The starting tool: OpenROAD

OpenROAD develops open-source tools for digital chip physical design. Its application and associated flow support work in the RTL-to-GDSII design process. The application is released under the BSD 3-Clause licence.

OpenROAD documentation lists several supported Linux environments. Support for Wazobia Linux itself has not been established.

A proposed first workshop

Begin with an upstream example on an explicitly supported Linux system. Record the distribution, software versions, computer specifications, installation procedure and run results. Participants can inspect the design outputs and document the purpose of each major stage.

The workshop deliverable would be a repeatable tutorial containing the example’s licensing requirements, a tested environment and a short explanation of the results. A later step would investigate packaging or a suitable deployment approach for the current Wazobia Linux release, once its base distribution and target architecture are confirmed.

Important limitation: This is a proposed project, not a tested installation guide. Hardware requirements and the time needed should be measured during the initial trial.

How this contributes to a wider semiconductor ambition

Our proposed contribution is skills development: helping participants learn physical design, reproducibility and engineering documentation. These skills can support an emerging chip-design community and future collaboration with manufacturing partners.

Chip design and running a fabrication plant are distinct undertakings. Design software does not supply fabrication equipment, process technology, facilities or manufacturing qualification. Any plan to manufacture a design must establish the relevant foundry, process files, permissions and validation requirements.

Next step

Confirm the current Wazobia Linux release and identify a workshop coordinator and test computer. Then select one upstream example and document a complete trial before offering the exercise to the wider group.