What is the current state of blobs on the OMAP5 Pyra anyways? SGX, sure. Apparently for Wifi, but firmware, not driver (that's from a 2014 news post though, so dunno if that's current at all). Pyra repo has the SGX blob in clear sight, but no idea if others aren't hiding somewhere as well.
The device can run fine without SGX drivers present, assuming it's just that or close to it, the Pyra is already pretty open.
That open source 3D driver which isn't officially supported needs to be in a usable state too. Is it? These GPUs are already pretty slow, so using a half-baked driver is far from ideal. Priorities, right. But that device with gaming controls should do its best to run games too.
Is being Spectre-free even important these days? With the majority of targets being patched anyways, how many will bother attacking this niche device?
64-bit ARM is neat, but what are the practical advantages for software running on handhelds? Sure, Dolphin runs on this compared to the OMAP5 (also newer graphics APIs), but that performance level doesn't run any games at full speed.
Having the system more open is a plus for sure, but how big of one is it? Upgrading to a slightly more powerful SoC with the full development cost of a new CPU board. It's already fairly dated and doesn't look like a long-term solution at all.
I'm more worried about the financial aspect of this move. Having worked with the i.MX 8 will probably make it easier to implement the next generation of it, sure. But that's still going to be additional development cost of another board in that scenario.
"X years" for the Pyra project can mean half a decade. I still believe in the project since I've held the device in my hands multiple times and trust the people behind the project. What I don't believe in is fast turn-around times. We've seen how hardware development is not smooth sailing countless of times. These steps should be big enough to warrant time and money spent in it.
Open-source is cool, but for me it also needs to be practical. I don't know how many people would buy a 2017 SoC device in, say 2022, solely for it being most open source if perhaps much better and cheaper options exist which come close enough to that ideal for them. I just don't think it's countless people. The Pyra will likely stay unique in its feature set of course, but many may not prioritize having all of its things in one device.
Just my opinion, though. Lots of it is speculation indeed and I don't get to make any final calls anyways. Still wanted to state it.