[Vampire] OS3.x VS AROS

[Niding]

So, there has been alot of chatter lately with regards to the way forward regarding Vampire.

http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=81535

While Im currently a OS3.9 user, and enjoy it as it is (plus the improvements thru boingbags ofcourse). Some users enjoys OS 1.3, 2, 3.1 etc, while some might want a OS that is being developed within the 680x0 hiarchy.

AROS has been considered dead in the water since its not gotten the attention it needs from more than a handful of developers, but that might change in the coming months.
Reason is the issue of OS3.x and potential legal issues with regards to using/developing it futher.

Tbh I havent bothered following the xxx threads and pages regarding this issue on both this and other forums, but as I said above, there is to an increasing degree discussion wether or not to go all in AROS instead of the dormant OS 3.x.

Im sure the Vampire crew will let people intrested in sticking with OS3.x do so regardless of the choice forward, but for futher development it might be a intresting discussion to be had since it could potentially affect vendors for example.
One of the "problems" with OS3.x, is that if Vampire sticks with it, they might face issues down the road, enhancements being blocked since those holding the OS sourcecode might (?) not be intrested in developing it futher, or parts of it depends upon others copyrights.

Im just starting a thread on this topic since it was raised as "something someone should do", but noone seems intrested in doing so

[Niding]

Thanks for the response Thomas!

Well, depends on the amount of money being discussed vs what can realistically be recouped from Vampire sales. Kind of a chicken and the egg conundrum.
Lets say $xx xxx, thats alot of money to recouped on a hobby project.
On the flipside, I strongly belive that developers needs to get paid for their efforts.

But I can see hesitation from the hardware side if they have to pay that kind of money upfront for example. And then there is the issue of who gets access to the source to futher development.

[Niding]

Amigakit is supposedly open to new development for 68k.
Cloanto has rights..
Amikit probably has a plan...

That might very well be the case, but we havent really heard anything regarding this.
Amigakit is developing thirdparty software and hardware for 68k, but they have limited manpower. Take Enhancer and Prisma Soundcard; been in the pipeline for a long time, in addition to other software AeonKit aquired the rights to.

Again, I dont hold it against them, as it require alot of manhours to complete, divided on few people.
AOS4 got customers with x1000, 5000 and Tabor in need of drivers and expanded OS in general, so id say Hyperions resources is stretched to the max.
Development of OS3.x is faaaaaaaaaaaar down on the list, id think atleast.

I would be happy to be proven wrong ofcourse

[Niding]

In principle I understand Thomas's reservations, but;

Given the size of the community and the holders of the OS
Given the speed og development, or the lack thereof
Given rather little communication (or slow)
.. etc

Open source starts to look quite enticing.

Again, I agree with Thomas in principle, but OS 3.x doesnt have 10 fulltime developers working on it.