Hello,
I donated and got an FPGA from the kickstarter campaign for the Go broad located at https://www.nandland.com/ . The problem is that the software to program the said FPGA requires an address, phone number, name, and your MAC address to install. It then needs a license renewal every so often and probably wants to call home.
Now I don't think this is the kind of info I'd give anyone, ever. Even if it was not so risky with all the SW vulnerabilities allowing for P0wned computers.
So, I'm looking for other FPGA programming SW.
Now, I could ask Mr. Merrick but he's a windowz user so I don't think he'd know.
Thanks

This is the lattice software

http://www.latticesemi.com/en/Produc.../iCEcube2.aspx

FPGAs are highly complex devices, you are almost always tied to the manufacturer's tools to program them. There simply aren't 3rd party options. For that reason it's very important you research the required tools and restrictions before you commit to purchasing one of their products.

I have no experience with Lattice, but I don't recall Xilinx requiring all of that information, FWIW. I could be mistaken though, it was a long time ago that I signed up on their site.

That said, it does appear that there is an effort to reverse engineer and create an open source synthesis tool for that particular model due to its relative simplicity:
http://www.clifford.at/icestorm/
It seems you would be tied to Verilog, and it seems to be very much in the proof-of-concept phase, which probably isn't the best choice for someone just starting out in the world of FPGAs, but it could be an option.

The lattice SW requires an account to get the SW or even view the license, are you certain that it is opensource?

I never said it was. Please read my post again, I'm not sure where you came to that conclusion. Icestorm is the open source software, it is not affiliated with Lattice at all, but it can supposedly be used to synthesize for a few of their smaller FPGAs.

If you're concerned about the software opening up a vulnerability on your machine, just install it in a VM and use the VM's MAC for the license. As for the name, address, and phone number, I'm pretty sure you could make up some values to satisfy the form.