Intel cpu is stll useful without pushing external microcode to it, while the point of fpga is the ability to program&#x2F;configure it.<p>Also there are many usefull tools that could be created if bitstream format was known.
Some of with could be usefull for other devs, not only fpga devs. And there are so many things you could potentially do with your bitstream, like generating it on the fly.<p>While floss tools would be nice,(gcc or llvm compiling a function to be accelarated by fpga, and then proper bitsream be genarated on startup by fpga driver) but just having alternatives from vendor suplied toolchain would be good.