Why not the classic OS..?

[Charlie]

For several reasons I could understand people saying 'not this topic again' or 'Charlie stop whittling-on about non-Amiga systems'.

Sorry.

ROOL
This makes interesting reading to someone like me who would like to see the classic AOS sources opened.

A quick history lesson:
RiscOS is a closed-source OS that has had many, many contributors to it over the years - each with their own separate licensing arrangements, some big-unfriendly companies.
Some years ago the OS forked:
RISCOS Ltd - Maintainers of 'primary branch'.
Castle Technology - Maintainers of the 'RiscOS 5 branch'.
(fairly friendly rivals who have a lot of source code in common)

RiscOS is a very much a minority platform with limited resources. For years the 'community' has been asking for the OS to be 'opened' in an effort to aid development.

Is any of this sounding familiar?

Well, despite the obvious obstacles it's the first Anniversary of Castle's initiative to open their branch of the source-code to the public - all is going well! Don't forget this has taken much on-going 'behind-the-scenes' negotiation with the many other owners of the code:

RISCOS Ltd have a commercial business based on a very similar code-base.
Pace Micro Technology plc still hold an independent claim to everything.
Lots of big companies hold the rights to some significant portions of the code too!
M$ are rumored to still have the rights to ROS's font-rendering engine!
(One of those: 'we'll buy-out a smaller company because they have better technology' deals that unusually didn't see the end of the smaller company)

So:
Why not AmigaOS?
It's obvious that where there's a will there's a way!

[Zetr0]

@Charlie

Ever resolute in your fight for the OS freedom my friend.

Ahhh how i wish only it to be one day, I can hold onto that thought. sooner or later it will happen....

Alas i doubt the current Amiga.inc actually OWN the classic OS in the sense they can OPENLY disseminate it. so its a case of hunting down whom actually does.... but one thing I read from the links is quite heartening

Originally Posted by ROOL

Opening up the RISC OS blue prints was a courageous initiative. From Castle's point of view, it was loosening the grip on a precious commodity, its intellectual property. Furthermore, it was a public admission that they were too small a company working too small a market and with too few resources to develop RISC OS further by themselves.

It can be a difficult thing to do, to ask for help. Many a business in the computing and electronics industry has gone bust through a combination of pride and failure to adapt to changing circumstance. Castle went through considerable internal agonizing before finally deciding to go down the shared source path.

maybe in time..... maybe.... i would like to hope so...

[ant512]

The sad thing is that the AmigaOS sourcecode will most likely have been lost decades before the copyrights run out.

[Galahad/FLT]

Linux has proved that open source works.

Shame Amiga Inc will never let it happen for AmigaOS