it would still be easier to reverse engineer software in the analogy
Actually, thanks to FPGAs having a very regular structure to them, figuring out their bitstream format is not all that difficult and I can say that it has been done in the past countless times by different people, although not for the same goals as this project. The hurdles are more political/legal than technical; the threat of EULAs, DMCA, etc. is what keeps almost all the work that's done from becoming public. (I would instinctively suggest that their site be mirrored, in case something does happen.)
That said, I agree more open-source FPGA tools are always a good thing, and this project still deserves praise for doing it!
Actually, thanks to FPGAs having a very regular structure to them, figuring out their bitstream format is not all that difficult and I can say that it has been done in the past countless times by different people, although not for the same goals as this project. The hurdles are more political/legal than technical; the threat of EULAs, DMCA, etc. is what keeps almost all the work that's done from becoming public. (I would instinctively suggest that their site be mirrored, in case something does happen.)
That said, I agree more open-source FPGA tools are always a good thing, and this project still deserves praise for doing it!