I just read a short history on UNIX here:
http://www.albion.com/security/intro-2.htmlIn the end of that history, the author concludes that since there are many UNIX-like operating systems (clones, if you will) out there, he will call all of them UNIX...
"I define UNIX as
A set of enabling technologies first developed at AT&T that have been incorporated into several legally distinct but closely related operating systems, each of which can be considered to be a "UNIX system." If it looks like UNIX, operates like UNIX, runs common UNIX utilities and programs, and is developed with UNIX as a model, it's UNIX."
Now, replace the word UNIX with Amiga or amiga (or perhaps AmigaOS), and AT&T with Amiga/Commodore, and you will very likely have a good analogy of UNIX and the current situation in the Amiga market. AROS and MorphOS have become our Linux and NetBSD in comparison to the original, trademarked operating system (AmigaOS and UNIX).
Perhaps we could use the years of UNIX experience (and debates in the UNIX community) as something to draw from to find a concensus within the Amiga community as to what to consider as Amiga or amiga. I often see the argument "MorphOS has nothing to do with Amiga", and I believe that to be like saying "Linux has nothing to do with UNIX"...
Is Linux UNIX? No. The definition quoted above is an over-simplification that may have some purpose in casual talk, but is technically misleading. But Linux is *nix. Just as MorphOS and AROS are *miga, if you will. That is my opinion, and I believe the concesus that seems to represent the majority in the UNIX community would very much seem to support this.
Any thoughts on this? Can you think of any other operating systems that have a history of being cloned? Also, is there something else we can learn from UNIX? How have these different UNIXes evolved? Is there co-operation between their makers? What about things like POSIX? Perhaps these could also help us support a future where different Amiga-like solutions can be somewhat compatible and support eachother and the marketplace while competing also.
Please discuss.
(I do note that we have the question of classic Amiga hardware to consider, but I would like to leave that outside of this argument since that technology is becoming pretty much obsolete anyway. I am trying to form an analogy between AmigaOS and UNIX, not Amiga hardware.)