Request: Add loongson[loong64] for step-ca and step-cli.

[Evsio0n]

Hello!

Loong64 is the 64-bit version of LoongArch. It's a RISC-style ISA developed by Loongson.
The architecture can be found here (https://wiki.debian.org/Ports/loong64)

It is suitable for loong64 devices that execute step-ca and step-cli. It is very useful for running this product and performing CA maintenance when using loong64 devices and servers and using Kubernetes.

[Evsio0n]

72f71aa

Which may also do the same thing to https://github.com/smallstep/certificates
Adding this may make it work on loong64 devices. Not tested.

[hslatman]

Hey @Evsio0n, thank you for opening the issue!

After discussion in the team the conclusion is that we shouldn't add this, because we don't have a way of testing proper functioning of the CA and CLI on this architecture at this time, and it would require additional maintenance in the future. This is the first time we got a request for this architecture, so it's hard to tell how popular it is and how much it is used in practice by our users. We might change our minds when we get more facts and votes, but in the meantime and if it's critical to support the architecture, the team is open to discuss a commercial agreement.

That said, you're absolutely free to compile it manually and/or in some automated fashion by specifying GOARCH=loong64 GOOS=linux to go build or make build.

Closing the issue for now.

[Evsio0n]

Hello!

Thank you for your response and for taking the time to consider the Loong64 architecture proposal. I fully understand the current decision not to support it due to testing and maintenance challenges, as well as the limited feedback from users. However, I would like to respectfully request that you consider reopening this issue so that, over time, we may demonstrate the value and potential necessity of Loong64 through community participation and real-world feedback.

In the past, we’ve seen successful integrations of other architectures under similar circumstances, such as ppc64(le) #560
and even mips #447 . These precedents show that given the right opportunity and community involvement, new architectures can become worthwhile additions. Since step-cli is already a fantastic tool, I believe Loong64 could also prove its value if provided with time and the chance to gather supporting data.

If this issue is reopened, I’m more than willing to promote Loong64 adoption within the community, encourage testing, and help collect tangible usage feedback. This would allow us to present more concrete evidence that Loong64 deserves official support, much like previous architectures.

[Evsio0n]

Additionally, to avoid adding more to your workload, here are some references to the Loong64 architecture that might be helpful:

• The ISA for Loong64 is stable.
• While Go can already be compiled for Loong64 via manual builds, the existing repository’s build scripts, which rely on goreleaser, may require upstream Loong64 support:
  Build package for loongson[loong64] goreleaser/goreleaser#5374

[hslatman]

I've just opened it again, but just for visibility

[caarlos0]

• While Go can already be compiled for Loong64 via manual builds, the existing repository’s build scripts, which rely on goreleaser, may require upstream Loong64 support:
  Build package for loongson[loong64] goreleaser/goreleaser#5374

goreleaser doesn't require any changes to its users be able to build for loong64.