When comparing OLinuXino (series) vs HiFive1, the Slant community recommends OLinuXino (series) for most people. In the question“What are the best completely open-source (considering even the bootloader, all drivers, availability of Gerber files, etc) active single board computer designs?” OLinuXino (series) is ranked 2nd while HiFive1 is ranked 3rd. The most important reason people chose OLinuXino (series) is:
Go [here](https://github.com/OLIMEX) for OLIMEX's GitHub repositories.
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro All source code available, including design files
Go here for OLIMEX's GitHub repositories.
Pro Designed using KiCAD
No proprietary software licenses are required to view and modify the design files.
Pro RISC-V
Completely open-source CPU architecture.
Pro Arduino-compatible
Compatible with Arduino software and accessories, making it an effective drop-in replacement.
Cons
Con Designed with Altium
"The design files for the HiFive 1 were made with Altium, a proprietary and non-Free software."
Con Leverages an FTDI chip, so not fully open-source
"This is an Arduino-compatible board with an FTDI chip providing the USB to serial conversion. [...] An FTDI chip is not Open Source, and they have designed drivers to break chips that aren’t theirs."